Digimon: Rebellion
by Twilidramon
Summary: Just as a group of teenagers is about to get everything they wanted, tragedy strikes and the Human World is taken over by the Demon Lords. Now, their only hope is to band together with their digimon partners, purify the Yggdrasil Tree, and stop the Demon Lords from destroying the Human World - all while trying to run their own lives! Rated M for reasons.
1. Episode 0

**A note: This story really has nothing to do with my other Digimon story, **_**Digimon: Wild.**_** Characters seen in the aforementioned story do show up in this one, but their stories have been altered. This isn't a sequel, and it isn't a prequel. It's its own story. I claim no ownership to nothing that is obviously not mine. I greatly apologize for the length of this prologue, but it does exactly what I need it to do. The song within was written by my friend Kira. **

**Oh, yeah - dislike homosexuality with a burning passion? Then please go away. I'm warning you now so that down the line I won't get burned for it. (But if you burn me I shall become more powerful than you can ever imagine!) Enjoy~**

**Episode 0: C0untd0wn**

This tale begins on a lovely spring day in March. Of course, most stories do begin on lovely days like this. The morning was slightly drizzly, but the clouds cleared and the sun came out just about noon. The puddles from the rain remained throughout the day, and the smell of freshness and moisture permeated the air.

It was a wonderful day for a baseball game.

In fact, this was day of the first game of the season, for high school and university students. The first game of the season can often set the tone for what will become of the rest of it – good or bad. Winners can get complacent, and losers can become determined… or the other way around. The Haibara Flycatchers, from the prefecture of Shizuoka, were playing the first game of the season against a team from a different school in a nearby city, the Yoshida Azaleas.

The game was difficult to watch, really, especially for those who really had no interest in sports. For them, baseball was an all-around confusing headache of a sport to keep track of, though interesting to watch. At first, the Flycatchers were dragging their feet – their star player, Jaen Tsuchikawara, had twisted his ankle during the first inning and had to be replaced by Hamlet Malderess until he recovered. The Azaleas took this moment to gain their advantage. However, by the time Jaen had recovered, the Flycatchers had caught up to Azaleas. When Jaen took the field again, the Flycatchers soared ahead. He and Hamlet were able to take the first game of the season home with them, sending the Azaleas packing. Jaen and Hamlet were the heroes of the team, setting the tone for their last year of high school sports.

Our story begins after the game – at a party taking place at the large, lavish home of a Haibara High School student. More specifically, it begins in that particular home's backyard; the place where most of the mingling was sure to take place.

It wasn't too hot for a spring evening, and it was beginning to cool down as time passed. The water on the grass and leaves of the trees had long since evaporated. Four teenagers were setting up some hefty technical equipment in the backyard, between two large trees.

"Higher," one of them, a small blonde girl of seventeen, ordered. She pointed upward, at the branches of the tree, and said, "Hang the tarp by those branches – and hurry it up! We've only got about an hour to get all this set up."

The two boys, each on one side of a great white tarp and each on their own ladder, looked back at her. One nodded confidently, stretching out his taller body to hook one end of the tarp onto one of the branches. He tied it securely. The other, however, looked more nervous about it, and while he stretched to make the tarp even, he found he couldn't quite reach it.

"I've got you, Haseo," the other boy assured him. "Just put it on the branch you can reach and then I'll fix it. Go and set up your drums."

The white-haired Haseo nodded and did as the other boy asked. Then, he shakily dismounted the ladder and went to rummage through all their other equipment. He began rolling out the cases for his drums as the other boy made his way up the ladder to adjust the tarp.

"Go easy on the boys, Loaño," the other girl sighed. She approached the first girl as she was running a comb through her long red hair. Her blue eyes sparkled like sapphires, accentuated by the subtle makeup she was wearing. "We're all nervous about this."

Loaño crossed her arms and grumbled, "I don't want to screw it up."

"We won't," the red-head insisted. "Come on, itoko; have some faith! We're going to rock this!"

Loaño gave her cousin a smirk. "Alright, Celena," she decided, "quit it with the sappy stuff and help me set this shit up."

Celena rolled her eyes at her cousin's attitude and followed her over to the pile of equipment. Loaño found the case for her guitar and grabbed that, along with the projector. She carried her laptop tightly between one of her arms and her body. Celena found the microphone stand and microphone, and began rolling the speakers up towards their makeshift stage.

Loaño set her guitar in the spot where she usually stood on a stage and then went about setting up the technical things. The owners of the house and backyard that they were borrowing for the party gave her access to their electricity, Internet, and a small end table that Loaño placed her laptop and projector on. She began setting it up, testing the projector with a YouTube video about _meow_ing cats. Celena hooked up the speakers properly, so the _meow_ing was clear as day.

"Glad that works," Celena said gratefully. "It almost didn't last time."

Loaño nodded in agreement. She began setting up the slideshow that would be playing behind them as they performed tonight. Celena undid the microphone and its stand and plugged them in, testing them for sound and such. Haseo had finished setting up his drums, and the other boy went about gathering up his instruments. Haseo helped him set up a keyboard.

Celena approached Loaño and asked, leaning on the end table, "Did you put any thought into what I suggested?"

"What, that I put that gif of the dancing Link in our slideshow?" Loaño wondered.

"No, you dummy!" Celena sighed, shaking her head. "The _duet_ – are you going to do it or not?"

Loaño looked up from the laptop screen and frowned. "Cel, you know I don't like singing; that's why I made _you_ lead singer. I'm fine with back up."

"Yeah, but you have a wonderful voice!" Celena insisted. "It goes perfect with Nikolai's, too! Plus, this duet might actually, you know, _spark_ something…"

Loaño shook her head. "I have no idea of how a song about _not_ wanting to be in love could _'spark'_ like that…"

Celena rolled her eyes and then told her, "You've had a thing for Nikolai for as long as the two of you have known each other… and I know for a fact that he's got a thing for you, too. And not just in his pants, if you know what I mean."

Loaño gave Celena a playful shove. Flushing, she grumbled, "It wouldn't work. I don't think the audience would go for it. People love the songs that Haseo writes for us; why can't we just do another or those?" She hadn't wanted her band to be known for doing covers of other people's songs, but that was how they'd started – before Haseo joined as their drummer and began writing songs for them, the cousins and Nikolai had taken other songs and did them their own way. Nikolai had even taken songs that were in English and translated them into Japanese, for the sake of those who didn't know any English.

"Excuses, excuses," Celena complained. "You're both just scared."

"Look, it's not my biggest concern right now whether something happens between him and I or not," Loaño insisted. "Right now it's in my best interest to get this band of ours up and running. Today is an amazing shot at that. Nikolai knows how much all of this means to me. We've talked about it before, Celena; it's not a good idea to mix up our personal lives with the band."

Celena rolled her eyes again and repeated, "You're just scared you'll screw it up. You're both bloody in love with each other; I guess I can't understand why neither of you want to do anything about it." She narrowed her eyes at her cousin and threw out her lip, making an angry-yet-pouty sort of face.

"I'll do the Gods-damned duet, if it'll shut you up about it – but I can guarantee you that nothing will happen because of it," Loaño growled finally.

"Awesome! I'll go tell Nikki and Haseo!" Celena cheered. She threw her arms around Loaño and kissed her on the cheek. "You won't regret this, itoko – I promise!"

Celena let Loaño go and jogged towards the boys. Loaño sighed and shook her head, looking back down at the laptop. She began to make adjustments to the show's program and slideshow to fit in the duet, getting a strange, fluttering feeling in her stomach.

_What if the performance is a hit and Nikolai and I…_ she thought, trailing off. She looked up at the other three and saw that the boys both looked eager to do the song. Nikolai was avoiding her eyes, but she could see the redness on his face. _What if I can have my cake and eat it too? If that could happen…_

_If that could happen, then tonight could be the greatest night of our lives…_

* * *

"That was the best opening game I have _ever_ played!" Jaen cheered. He clapped Hamlet on the shoulder and insisted, "I swear, you saved our asses, Malderess!"

Hamlet chuckled nervously. He stepped out of the showers and grabbed a towel, drying his blonde hair out before he tied it around his waist. He watched Jaen wash himself down and felt sore and achy himself; it had been a long, tough game. Hamlet wanted nothing more than to lie down and relax. "You had as much to do with our winning as I did," he insisted.

"Yeah, but I fucked up my ankle like a complete idiot," Jaen reminded him. He stepped out of the shower, water dripping off of his muscular body and darker hair, and grabbed his towel. He didn't dry his hair, only covered himself with the towel. He shook out his hair, sending droplets of water spinning everywhere. He had a tattoo of a rose on his back, over his right shoulder – his pitching arm. "You're the one who covered my ass."

"Well, I'm glad I could," Hamlet offered.

"Is that a gay joke?" Jaen wondered innocuously.

"No," Hamlet insisted.

"Good," Jaen said with a smirk, "I don't think your boyfriend would like it if he thought you were hitting on some other guy."

Hamlet chuckled, letting it slide. Jaen had been nothing but supportive of Hamlet's lifestyle choices, and was admittedly the only team member who still showered with Hamlet, though Hamlet waited until everyone else was done in order to keep from offending or making anyone uncomfortable. There had been rumors spread about Jaen being homosexual as well, but his girlfriend, Aimi Tano, stopped them in their tracks. It helped to have a girlfriend at the head of the rumor mill, Jaen had said, and Aimi ensured that the rumors didn't circulate long.

"Speaking of, are you bringing him to the party?" Jaen asked. "Naota, I mean."

"I don't think he'll really want to go, but I asked anyway," Hamlet explained. "He doesn't really like situations like that. Hikaru wants to go, though."

"His cousin?" Jaen wondered. Hamlet nodded to confirm. "I've heard a thing or two about her. Didn't she go out with one of our guys?"

"Yeah," Hamlet admitted. "He was an asshole though, and he picked on Naota a lot. I had to… _insist_ that he stop coming around. Hikaru was damn near ready to kill him before they broke up. She still might."

"Hm… well, I don't think I'll give him a warning, then," Jaen decided. "Naota's a nice kid. I've only seen him once or twice, but I know that. He doesn't deserve that sort of shit." He shook his head and then said, "We should get dressed – or, well, at least I should. Aimi is waiting for me. She wants me to pick her up at her house. Nothing personal, but I don't think I can give you a ride. I can call and check, if you want."

"I'll be fine," Hamlet decided, waving him away. "It's a nice night for a walk, anyway."

Jaen smirked and gave Hamlet a thumbs up, saying, "Then I'll see you at the party!"

He turned to go, but Hamlet stopped him. "Hey, Jaen!" he called.

"What?" the other boy asked, looking back.

"Are you plotting to do what I think you're plotting to do tonight?" Hamlet wondered, an eyebrow raised. _Don't lie to me, Jaen,_ he thought. _Please don't; not about something like this._

Jaen frowned, and then said, "Probably, yeah." Then, he raised a hand and insisted, "Don't worry; Aimi and I have been talking about it for a long time, Ham. I won't do anything unless she gives the word… and I have protection, too. I really love her, Hamlet – what, did you think I was going to screw this up like I did with my exes?"

"Well, yes," Hamlet admitted. "I couldn't help but make sure."

Jaen chuckled and then said, "Glad to know you've got my back, Hamlet. I'll see you at the party. Remember – it's at the Hinahana's house!"

* * *

Hayato Hinahana looked up at the decorations. Then, she looked down at the all the people who had come. She didn't like it one bit, really. It was all too much – too claustrophobic, in her opinion. She clutched a handful of books to her chest and wished she could go up to her room and read them in peace and quiet – but her parents had insisted that she socialize more and had shoved her outside without giving her time to protest.

Her gray eyes tried to follow the movements of the people in her backyard. The music was loud and proud and the band seemed to be a hit. Hayato thought they were a bit too loud. She wasn't even doing any sort of movement, and yet her red hair was sticking to the back of her neck with nervousness. She frowned and took a step back, trying to make herself seem as small as possible. She didn't want to be noticed – not at all. But being a red-headed girl in the middle of a large group of predominantly black-haired people made that goal all the harder. Still, no one seemed to bother approaching her… and this was something that she was all right with. It was bad enough that she stood out in her own family… but here she was like a beacon.

"Well, if it isn't Hayato!" someone called.

Hayato immediately shrank. She had no friends in her school and no friends here – so immediately alarms began ringing in her mind. She held her books up defensively as two rather burly young men approached. They were handsome and muscular in seemingly all the right places, but they towered over her and she didn't like that.

"Little Hayato!" one of them jeered. "Man, I'm shocked that you're here! And that's a bad thing, seeing as how this is where you live!"

"Oh, leave her be, Sen," the other laughed. "She's just trying to hide, like she always does!" They laughed at her after that, and Hayato's eyes began darting this way and that, trying to find an escape. She found an exit near the refreshment table and began to take it, but Sen pushed forward and blocked her. She wasn't strong enough or courageous enough to stop him – he was like a human wall to her.

"Don't run, Hayato," Sen said with a tone that was mocking understanding. "We just want to dance with you, that's all."

"Yeah," the other guy agreed, coming upon her from behind. Hayato's eyes widened and she clutched her books tighter. The other guy was hemming her in, and she had no choice but to back up, right into Sen. "We just want to dance with you…"

"Sen! Kuni! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" someone shouted. Hayato watched as a young man, older than Sen and Kuni, pushed his way through the crowd. He had blonde hair, and was followed by a short, young girl with nearly identical blonde hair. Her lightning blue eyes were blazing.

The girl approached and put her hands on her hips, shouting, "Leave her alone, you jackasses! She obviously wants nothing to do with you!"

"Well hey, if it isn't Hamlet and his pipsqueak friend!" Sen chuckled. "What, did your boyfriend dump you and you decide to get back into girls?"

Hamlet stepped forward, but someone put a hand on his chest. A taller young man with dark hair stepped forward, his face stern and his green eyes glowering. Hayato recognized him as Jaen Tsuchikawara, the star baseball player for the Flycatchers. Beside him was a young woman with a lovely face and figure with short-cut black hair and a lovely golden dress on. "There a problem here, guys?" Jaen demanded.

"Yeah," the girl snapped. "These two lugheads were about to try and rape this girl!"

Jaen's eyes blazed. "Leave her alone," he growled. "And if I see you guys around this party again, I think I might kick your asses."

Sen and Kuni looked at one another. Then, they seemed to realize that Hayato was much more trouble than she was worth. They backed away from her and turned to leave, throwing looks of murder and anger back at Jaen and Hamlet, as if they hadn't expected interference.

"Good job, Jaen," the girl on Jaen's arm decided. "I've never liked the looks of those two… I've heard some nasty things from the other girls about them."

"Are you all right, Hayato?" the blonde girl asked. "You're shaking all over."

Hayato shook her head and realized that she was indeed shaking violently. Her eyes were watering, and she was losing hold of her books despite her sweaty palms. The blonde girl and the girl in the lovely dress took her by one arm each.

"I'm Aimi," the black-haired girl said.

"I'm Hikaru," introduced the blonde. She looked over to Hamlet and said, "I'll get her someplace safe… and maybe find something for her to drink."

"I'll go with you," Aimi decided. She looked over to Jaen and said, "We'll meet up soon, all right? I'll find you."

Jaen nodded and told her, "Be careful; let me know if Sen and Kuni give you more trouble." He slapped Hamlet on the shoulder and pulled him away from the girls, taking him into the crowd.

When they were gone, Aimi and Hikaru each looped their arms around Hayato's and escorted her to the refreshment table. Hikaru took Hayato's books while Aimi found something for her to drink. Meanwhile, Hayato simply sat in a chair, nervous.

"So… you're Hayato Hinahana?" Hikaru asked. "This is your house?"

Hayato nodded.

"And your sisters are the models and pianists and surgeons?"

Hayato nodded, looking down at her feet.

"Wow," Hikaru breathed. "That's… great; for them, at least. Must be hard living in their shadow."

"I… I didn't want to come outside," Hayato whispered.

"Hm?" Hikaru wondered. "You're going to have to speak up."

"I didn't want to come outside," Hayato repeated, louder. "I don't belong out here. But my parents pushed me out here and won't let me come back inside. I was going to just sit and wait it out, but… they…"

Hikaru laid a hand on hers and said, "Yeah; those two are douchebags. I nearly found out the hard way just what way Sen and Kuni like their girls, too. Needless to say, their equipment doesn't function properly anymore. Apparently they didn't take my hint."

Hayato looked up at Hikaru and asked, "You're a middle schooler – fourth year, right?"

"Yeah," Hikaru answered.

"Wow…" Hayato murmured. "You're really brave. Thank you…"

"Oh, it's nothing," Hikaru told her. "Parties are a place where you need to look out for yourself; or something bad is bound to happen. After you get that drink, why don't you and I hang out a bit? It's always a good idea to have a friend to look after you, especially after something like that."

"A… friend?"

"Sure, why not?" Hikaru said, smiling.

"I don't… I don't have any friends."

"Well, now you do – I'm Hikaru Reinhardt; your very first friend!"

* * *

The audience cheered as Loaño and her band mates finished their third song of the night. Celena, standing at the head of their makeshift stage, said into the microphone, her voice projected through the backyard, "Now, I'm sure you guys are tired of hearing me sing – now, it's time for another to shine for you all! Introducing the founder and lead guitarist of Koukon Sabaki, Loaño Ishida! She will be preforming a song with our keyboardist, Nikolai Miles, for all of you to hear. Enjoy!"

Skeptical, the audience milled about and chatted as Loaño and Celena changed positions. Nikolai picked up his keyboard and moved it up further. Loaño adjusted the tuning of her guitar to match just what she needed, and Nikolai fiddled with his keyboard a bit. He gave her a nod when he was ready. Loaño nodded back and signaled for Haseo to begin with the beat she needed. The audience quieted when he began, and Loaño began strumming, creating the intro to the song.

Nikolai closed his eyes and took a deep breath, beginning the song, Loaño's guitar in the background:

"_One last breath_

_He checks his watch_

_It's time now_

_It's the last second_

_He's got to stop it somehow…__"_

Loaño took over from there. Celena raised both her hands in the air as Loaño sang:

"_Countdown to the end_

_Starting with 10…__"_

Haseo and Celena took over the counting, Celena's fingers mimicking what number they were on while huge numbers appeared on the screen in the back of them. Nikolai took the chorus for his own. His foreign voice seemed to make all the girls swoon over him, and they cheered louder than before when he sang his part:

"_10 fingers_

_Runnin' through her hair_

_9_

_8_

_7 Minutes_

_And now we're gaspin' for air_

_6_

_5_

_4_

_3 magic wishes_

_To be together forever_

_2 friends, oh two very best friends_

_And 1 mistake could spell the end…"_

Loaño turned her attention away from Nikolai's part, swaying her hips to a beat no one could see. Haseo's drums seemed to follow her hips as she closed her eyes and sang:

"_She walks in_

_He sees she's hesitatin'_

_Love or lust_

_It's all too complicated_

_And he's nervous_

_Why wouldn't he be?_

_Starin' at a future_

_They can't see_

_They lock eyes_

_They're hypnotized_

_And they could soar_

_Or crash and die…"_

Attention turned to Nikolai as he sang:

"_One last breath_

_He checks his watch_

_It's time now_

_It's the last second_

_Time to start the countdown…"_

And then again, Loaño began the countdown:

"_Right to the end_

_Starting with 10…"_

Like before, Nikolai had the chorus, and Loaño turned to watch him sing, her fingers strumming her guitar strings of their own accord:

"_10 fingers_

_Runnin' through her hair_

_9_

_8_

_7 Minutes_

_Worth of time in Heaven_

_6 senses tingling_

_With the tinge of imperfection_

_5_

_4 hopeless hands_

_Building an illusion_

_3 words_

_Tainted with such confusion_

_2 best friends_

_And 1 mistake could spell the end…"_

The next few pieces were ones that the two of them sang together, with Celena and Haseo adding their voices at the appropriate times. Their voices melded together almost perfect as they recited:

"_They're alone_

_No telling' what will happen_

_When it's over_

_Will they still be best friends?_

_Face to face_

_They can't escape_

_What happens next?_

_After one last breath_

"_10 fingers_

_Runnin' through her hair_

_9 circles of Hell_

_A pain that we can't bare_

_8 prayers to fate_

_Spare us from our despair_

_7 Minutes_

_Worth of time in Heaven_

_6 senses tingling_

_With the tinges of imperfection_

_5 questions to ask_

_If this will last_

_If we are to risk_

_Everything in our past_

_4 hopeless hands_

_Building an illusion_

_3 words_

_Tainted with such confusion_

_2 best friends_

_And 1 mistake could spell the end_

"_How can we pull this off just right_

_Without losing everything?_

_When will we know_

_Just what our feelings mean?_

_What are we doing?_

_Where is this heading?_

_Why are the fear and dread inside me still building?_

"_And they're on edge_

_Feeling the anxiety_

_Torn apart_

_By the pressures of society_

_What they want_

"_They can't decide_

_But this is it_

_There's no chance to hide…"_

There was a pause in the music as Nikolai and Loaño caught their breath. Haseo gently tapped the cymbals, their harmonic _crash crash crash_ following the beat. The audience looked up at them in silence, until Nikolai leaned into his microphone and sang quietly:

"_One last breath_

_He checks his watch_

_It's time to begin_

_It's the last second_

_So why not give in?"_

Loaño walked over to him and offered him her hand, her guitar silent:

"_Countdown to the end_

_Starting with 10:"_

Both Loaño and Nikolai sang the remainder of the song, returning to their instruments, but standing next to each other. This time, the audience counted with them, while Celena and Haseo echoed their words:

"_10 fingers_

_Interlocked, they linger_

_9 muses_

_Inspiring all of our love_

_8 prayers to fate_

_To let us rise up above_

_7 Minutes_

_We'll fly to Heaven_

_6 senses tingling_

_With a hint of perfection_

_5 questions to ask_

_If this will last_

_If we are to risk_

_Everything in our past_

_4 loving hands_

_Reaching a conclusion_

_3 words_

_Still tainted with confusion_

_2 best friends_

_1 mistake could still spell the end_

_0 hour_

_And I'm movin' in_

_When our lips lock_

_Is when the magic begins_

_And we're still friends_

_But for the moment more_

_But now we can't go back to before…"_

The music stopped as Nikolai took Loaño into his arms. He wasn't looking at the audience as he sang:

"_And if this is not the end_

_Maybe we can try it again…"_

Heat flooded Loaño's face and for a moment she forgot that she was even preforming anything at all. Haseo finished out the song with a small drum outro and the audience cheered, some of them rooting for Nikolai to kiss her, others rooting for Loaño to kiss him. She blinked, and the strangeness was done.

Nikolai only gave her a wan look before letting her go and taking his bow over his keyboard. Loaño, slightly dazed, turned back to the audience and nodded her head. Celena stepped forward and announced, "We'll be taking a short break! Even we need to eat something, especially after that!"

She gave Loaño a wink and a smile and grabbed Haseo by the wrist. She wrested him away from his drums and off their stage, heading towards the refreshments. Confused, Loaño stepped off the stage, her guitar still slung around her shoulders. She wearily accepted the praise from her audience, but she eventually broke away from them and stepped out into an unoccupied corner of the yard. She looked up at the sky, seeing the stars twinkle.

Loaño frowned, seeing one star shine a little brighter than the others. It fell across the sky, a stream of fire trailing behind it. An odd feeling flowed over her, and she shook it off, unsure. She turned around, only to find Nikolai standing there.

"Oh," she said. "Hey."

"Hey," he replied. His voice seemed strained from the singing they had been doing. "Look, I know that probably wasn't the best thing to do, but…"

"No, the audience liked it," Loaño told him. "That was fine." _And I liked it, too… Oh, if only I could somehow say that to you myself!_

Nikolai's olive-colored eyes flickered across her face and she froze, wondering if she had revealed herself. He gave her a soft smile and said, "I know it's a bad idea… but don't you think that maybe we should rethink this whole thing, Lo? I mean… you and I…"

"Nikki…"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," he said, sighing, "you don't want it to get in the way… but I don't think it will… and I know you don't think so, either. We both know that we have strong feelings for each other and I don't think that we should just ignore them. For better or for worse, I want to figure it out."

Loaño opened her mouth to speak, but she found that he had said all that she had been planning on saying. She closed her mouth and held her guitar as if it were a security blanket. He reached out and gently touched her face.

"It takes a long time for someone to get past that tough exterior of yours… but what's inside is worth finding," he told her. He leaned in close and pressed his lips against hers. Loaño stood on her toes to keep level with him. IT seemed to last forever, and she wanted it to last forever, deep inside, but she knew it wouldn't. She sank down onto her feet when he gently pulled away. He held out his hand and sang to her, his voice low and quiet:

"_And if this is not the end_

_Maybe we can try it again…"_

Loaño reached out for his hand. She was about to take it when suddenly a piercing noise like the sound of a dog whistle rocketed through her head. She screamed and fell, unbearable pain blooming in her chest. Her eyes were watering and her heart was beating at a breakneck pace. Nikolai caught her before she could hit the ground, worry and confusion all over his face.

"Look!" someone shouted, above the din of screeching whistles and people.

Loaño seemed to find enough strength to obey. She looked up and saw that something like a tornado with a dark, black center had opened up in the sky. Eight beings came from the tornado, each one grander than the last and a few looking like unreal beasts. At their head was a man with over a dozen wings and golden hair holding in his arms what appeared to be a wounded child. His laughter echoed throughout the world as he let go of the child. The man watched him fall to the ground.

Then, he looked up and raised both his arms. Light and shadow poured over everything, the energy causing all the street lights to shatter and burn out. The man above declared, his voice so loud it seemed to cover the world, "Let it begin!"

The eight other beings shot out towards all horizons as more black and foul creatures poured out from the hole and began swarming the skies. The man laughed again and said, "The Human World is finally mine! Destroy everything!" Then, he shot off towards the distant mountains.

Loaño immediately stood up, the noise fading from her mind. The pain in her chest persisted, and she touched herself to make sure that she wasn't somehow bleeding. She wasn't – it seemed to be some sort of internal pain. She shook her head and rushed towards the gates that led outside. She pushed them open, ignoring the panic all around her as people pushed and shoved and shouted.

Outside the yard she saw monsters beyond her imagining landing on rooftops, picking up people, breaking into houses, and patrolling the skies. A fire hydrant was broken and pouring water onto the street. A lamppost was down, blocking the road. A car was on fire and smoking and its alarm was going off. Everywhere else in the city seemed to be suffering a similar fate.

Havoc had broken out in a matter of thirty seconds.

Loaño took off down the street, Nikolai calling out to her back. She couldn't stop though – something was calling her. The pain in her chest was getting stronger, yet as it did it seemed to be hurting less.

After a few minutes of running and dodging the monsters and their games through the streets, she found herself at the edge of a small crater, just off the road. Inside, in the very middle, was the small child that the winged man had let fall to the ground. Loaño stepped into the crater, tripped, and then slid the rest of the way down to its very center.

She pushed herself up onto her knees and looked at the child. It was a boy with darker skin and long, silver hair. His clothes were strange, and what was stranger still was that he had a pair of wolf ears atop his head and a matching tail coming from the base of his spine. A deep wound was in his chest, leaking blood onto the dirt below. It stretched from shoulder to hip and looked horribly painful. It made her shiver to look at, and her stomach heaved a little.

"Lo!"

She looked up to find Nikolai. He slid into the hold behind her, taking off his jacket as he did so. He threw it to her, and she used it to cover up the boy's wound. The moment her skin brushed against his, she felt something like a shock that one gets from rubbing something like fleece for too long and then touching something else. The boy groaned and moved his head.

"What the – who the hell is this?!" Nikolai demanded, getting to the bottom of the crater.

"I… I don't know," Loaño stammered. She looked up at Nikolai and said, "Help me get him to my house – he's really, really hurt!"

Nikolai looked like he was going to protest, but then he reached to pick up the boy. Just as Nikolai was about to pick him up, the boy's eyes shot open and they locked with Loaño's. His eyes were silver, not gray, and they shone like discs. He reached up with his unwounded hand and touched Loaño's face. Warmth raced through her body, and she found she couldn't take her eyes off of the strange, wounded child.

"Little one…" he breathed, his voice calm and kind, but filled with pain.

"Hang on," Loaño told him. "We're going to get you some help!"

He responded by looking up at the sky and admitting, "This is all my fault…" before his eyes rolled back into his head and he passed out.

* * *

"Lucemon, are you sure no one will find him?" a lovely, scantily-clad woman asked. She had followed Lucemon to the summit of the mountain.

Lucemon touched down on the summit and sensed the power beneath his feet. He smiled and decided that this was the perfect place. "Don't worry, Lilithmon; I'm sure my brother will do all he can to stop us… and that includes finding allies." He reached into his jacket and pulled out a tiny, glowing seed. He tossed it up and down in his hand and then looked the lovely digimon in the face. He stroked her cheek with his free hand and then said, "Even the smallest threat must be removed; but he won't stand a chance against us as we are now."

He bent down and scraped away a deep gouge of earth. Then, he set the seed inside the hole. He covered it up with dirt and looked down at the place with a devious smile. He promised her, "We've won this time, Lilithmon. There's nothing that my brother, or anyone, can do to stop us. The Human World is ours."_  
_


	2. Episode 1

**Episode 1: The Fallen Guardian and His Partner**

_"Two weeks ago today, the world and all the people in it were suddenly faced with the creatures known as 'digimon'. A portal from their world to ours opened in the sky at about ten-thirty at night, and these creatures began pouring out and wreaking havoc on not only our fair city, but in cities and towns all over the world. Their leaders, known as the Seven Great Demon Lords, have taken root on all continents, claiming them for themselves. Their leader, apparently called Lucemon – am I pronouncing that right? Yes? Alright. Anyway, their leader, Lucemon, has taken settlement on the summit of Mount Fuji, our country's beloved mountain. Reports have come in from all over the world as our leaders try and get a grip on the situation._

_"According to our international sources, the six other Demon Lords have also confirmed their places of residency – Lilithmon apparently resides at the top of the Eiffel Tower and claims to rule over all of Europe; a beast called Belphemon seems to be sleeping in the wastelands of Australia; a monster named Leviamon has taken over the oceans themselves and has been reportedly sighted at both the North and South Poles; Daemon has settled himself in Rio de Janeiro, destroying half the city in the process; a man named Barbamon has blown a hole into one of the ancient pyramids of Giza and is reportedly settled there; finally, a demon biker named Beelzemon has been sighted roaming North America and Canada's streets on his motorcycle._

_"Meanwhile, digimon of all kinds have filtered through the portal, both affiliated with the Demon Lords and not – at least, that's what they seem to claim. Police all over the world are moving cautiously in their investigations, and for the first time ever all forces of the world are working together to try and find the true source of these creatures. According to all the digimon questions, they come from an alternate, computer-based dimension called the 'Digital World' that is connected to our world through the Internet and other modes of technology. Most digimon have been very forthcoming with details about their home, but most seem to be frightened of the suggestion of possibly returning. Authorities aren't sure why._

_"During the attack it was made clear that our weapons could do no harm to these Demon Lords – military all over the world threw their best at them without even a scratch as a result. Hundreds of thousands of men and women were lost in the retaliation made by the Seven before their leader, Lucemon, came forth and proclaimed that no more would die if we laid down our weapons. Our leaders had no choice but to act in the best interests of their people and agree to his demands. Then, the Seven, with Lucemon as their spokesman, met with the United Nations to discuss their terms._

_"While we all refused to completely surrender the Earth, Lucemon asked only that they be allowed to stay and watch over the people. He made it very clear that nothing we could do – not even nuclear assault – could stop them. He offered us an ultimatum – return to him his brother, a digimon named AncientAnubismon, alive, and they would spare our world. Whether or not this is true, no one is sure… but authorities are searching for the digimon known as AncientAnubismon. Meanwhile, the Seven declared Martial Law upon the world. As a reminder, we must all be indoors by nightfall, or we shall be incarcerated until sunrise. This goes for both humans and digimon._

_"So long as the digimon aren't harmed, the Seven agreed to not harm the humans and allow us to go on with our daily lives. Yet I'm sure we can all feel their eyes watching down upon us on all corners and islands of our fair Japan. Authorities are working to find the source of the Digital World – just where it came from or how it was created – so that they may eventually find a way to send the Seven and their servants back._

_"These digimon are strange, dangerous creatures. It is advised but the authorities that if one is encountered it ought to be ignored and unprovoked until further notice._

_"Everyone listening to this… don't worry. We'll find a way out of this mess. With God watching over us, He will surely help. All we can do is pray…"_

"For the Gods' sake, shut her up!" Loaño shouted down the steps. She walked down the steps anyway, rubbing her eyes. "Gods, Kidd; it's nine in the morning on _Saturday_ – why the hell are you watching the news?"

Their living room was small. At least, it _looked_ small, compared to Kidd. He was a large man, taller than what was deemed above average for a man his age. His hair was either dyed or naturally an electric blue color, though Loaño knew the darker blue streaks in his hair were in fact dyed. His face was hard and wolfish, with stubble and eyes the color of ice. He wore a ratted trench coat that reached to the backs of his knees, a white shirt that was equally messy, and pants that looked as if a wild animal had had a field day with them. He wore no shoes, and scars criss-crossed his face and body.

"Sorry, pup," Kidd answered gruffly. "Jus' wan'ed ta see if'n there was anything new 'bout all this shit."

"They haven't had anything new since last week," Loaño groaned. "I doubt they're going to get anywhere anytime soon, anyway."

"They got me lookin' fer that AncientAnubismon guy," Kidd grumbled. "I can' tell the difference 'tween one digimon an' another; how the 'ell am I supposed ta find this one guy?"

Loaño crossed her arms over her chest – not that she had much of a chest to cross her arms over. Compared to Kidd, Loaño might as well be a Barbie doll. She was small and slight where he was big and tough, blonde where he was blue, and silver-eyed where he was icy-eyed. It was more than obvious that they weren't related in any way. Kidd was an old friend of the Ishida family, however, and when Loaño's parents died years ago he was the one to take her in.

"I'm more pissed about this martial law thing," Loaño said, frowning at the television. Kidd had muted the woman on behind the desk on the television, but she was still speaking. "In the house by nightfall? What the hell is that shit?"

"Martial law's fer yer own safety, pup," Kidd replied.

"Then why would _they_ declare it?"

"I don' know," Kidd replied, sighing. "I think they're doin' e'erythin' they can ta flush out this guy they're lookin' for."

"I don't think he's dumb enough to be outside after dark – those digimon that the Seven brought with them seem to be stronger after dark," Loaño admitted. "But if Lucemon wants him that badly, then that must mean that this AncientAnubismon guy might be the digimon who can do something about these yahoos."

"Maybe," Kidd rumbled. "But… speakin' a digimon, 'ow's our patien' doin'?"

Loaño frowned. The strange boy had passed out in her arms the night that all hell broke loose and the Seven invaded the Human World. His wounds must have been too much for him. With Nikolai's help, Loaño had used his jacket as a faux tourniquet to stop the bleeding and brought him home with her. Kidd had bandaged him up much better, but the wolf-eared boy wasn't showing any signs of life other than breathing at the moment. He was still unconscious and resting up in the spare room right next to Loaño's bedroom upstairs.

"No better, no worse," Loaño replied. It had been too hectic to take him to the hospital, and it was still much too hectic – hospitals all over the world were flooded with patients with injuries due to the attempted strike back at the Seven. The boy was obviously a digimon – no human had animal ears, and no human definitely had a tail – so taking him to a hospital was probably a bad idea, anyway. For some reason, Loaño felt that she didn't want anyone to know much about him.

"Go an' change 'is bandages. I'm gonna go bring Isamu back insi'e 'fore some digimon eats 'im 'er something," Kidd told her. He stood up and shut off the television. His steps were like thunder as he walked towards the back door. Their house was small, big enough for a family of four, though it was only the two of them living here. Two rooms were upstairs, while a third was downstairs. Kidd had taken the downstairs room while Loaño, liking her privacy, had chosen the upstairs room that was at the farthest edge of the house. The boy had been given the other room. They shared their house with Isamu, Kidd's Shiba Inu dog and most faithful companion. Sometimes Loaño swore the two could speak to one another.

Loaño went into the bathroom and found the bandages and salve. She took the supplies upstairs and walked towards her room, but turned into the room where they were keeping the boy. It was a sparsely decorated room, mostly because no one lived in it. It was here that Celena would sleep when she stayed overnight, or where Nikolai and Haseo slept when the whole band had to stay the night. Loaño never minded sharing a bed with her cousin – they had done it since they were little.

The boy was lying in the bed now, breathing silently with his eyes closed. His silver hair was long and flowed about him like a river, even though Loaño had tied it into a ponytail to keep it from getting into his wounds. He looked very tranquil, his tail still and his ears alert. One might even think he were dead if it weren't for his breathing.

_Alright; just gotta change his bandages and be done with it,_ she thought. Being in the room with him made her feel strange – like she was the only one who could help him. She didn't really like the strange feelings that the nameless boy gave her.

She began undoing his bandages, preparing herself to see his grisly wound still bleeding and looking horrifying. To her surprise, there was nothing but smooth skin beneath the old bandages. She allowed herself to touch his chest, finding that he was warm. She searched for any sort of wound, but all she found were grisly, puckered scars. She looked at the old bandages, finding that they were indeed bloodstained on the inside, but there was nothing but scars and skin beneath them – no blood, no open wound. Loaño frowned at that. Even their rag-tag stitching was gone.

"That's… weird," she decided. Maybe it was a digimon thing. _But if you're healed up, wouldn't that mean that you should be waking up soon?_

She felt his forehead. It was as warm as the rest of him, but not feverish warm. At least, her instinct was telling her that he didn't have a fever. The boy himself just seemed to radiate warmth – not a blistering summer heat sort of warmth, but warmth that anyone could tolerate.

Loaño pulled up a chair and sat down, thinking, _Why won't you wake up?_

_Because you haven't asked me to,_ someone replied. _Not politely, at least._

"Holy shit!" Loaño shouted. "What the hell was that?!" She looked around, chills running down her spine. Her heart was pounding a mile a second, and she clenched her fists in apprehension. Did she just hear someone else's voice in her _head?_

_Calm down, little one; it's only me,_ they said. _Just relax, will you?_

"It's kind of hard to relax when someone else is somehow in your fucking _mind,"_ Loaño growled aloud. "Come out and talk to me face-to-face, will you? This is creepy, and I don't want anyone in my head but me!"

_You're actually taking this rather well,_ the voice said with an amused chuckle. _I'm glad. But still, little one, please relax. It'll make this all the easier._

"I don't know who the hell you are," Loaño muttered. "But get the fuck out of my mind."

_Fine… I suppose it's time for me to wake up, anyway…_ the voice decided.

The boy before her shifted. He pushed himself up gingerly, as if he were afraid of his wounds reopening again. When he was leaning against the backboard of the bed, he touched his scars gingerly, his eyes still closed, frowning sadly. His ears flattened in display of either the pain or the emotion. He turned his head towards Loaño, and then he opened his eyes.

"Hullo, little one," he rasped, smiling softly.

"Y-You…" Loaño breathed, recognizing the voice.

"Aye, that was me in your mind," the boy told her. "I apologize for that. When you touched me the first time we met, the bond between us was sealed and I was able to enter your mind. I've been inside of your mind since I passed out. That's how I know what's happening now."

Loaño touched her temple and blinked, feeling a headache forming. "So you've… been _watching_ me?"

"Through your mind, yes," the boy explained. "It's not all that complicated. I was simply listening to what was happening while I was healing. Thank you so much for taking me in, little one. If anyone else but you had been the first person to find me, they would surely have left me to die."

"It was the right thing to do," Loaño muttered.

"Thank you for recognizing that, little one," the boy murmured. "I have a lot to explain, I suppose…"

"You said that this was your fault," Loaño recalled. "If it really is…"

"Oh, it is," the boy said, his voice so full of regret and sorrow that Loaño could feel it. "I suppose, though, that I should begin with my name. I am, as you know, a digimon – all our names end in _–mon_, if that pattern hasn't become clear to you yet. All who know me call me AA, for short – but my real name is AncientAnubismon."

Loaño's eyes widened and she blurted, "Oh _fuck."_

* * *

"You called me over?" Nikolai began as he walked into Loaño's home. He had gotten a different jacket since AA had bloodied his old one, and he took it off along with his shoes as he entered. His dark brown, curly hair was, as always, a mess, but kept back with a ponytail, and he wore a t-shirt and jeans that were tight, yet loose. He wasn't trying to impress anyone in particular with his outfit.

"Yeah," Loaño confirmed. "We've… got a situation." She hadn't told Celena or Haseo about finding AA, so talking to them would have only caused her a bigger headache. She was lucky that Nikolai had been available to come over, seeing as how it was nearly dark already.

"Lay it on me," Nikolai offered.

Loaño did her best to explain everything to him on their way into AA's recovery room. Kidd had made him something to eat, and he was busy with eating just as they entered. AA looked up from his dinner, his tail wagging a little. "Hullo, Nikolai," he said. "It's been a while since I've seen you. Thank you for the jacket, and I apologize for the condition it's in now."

"Uh… that's all right," Nikolai said hesitantly. "But, uh… how do you know my name?"

"I gathered it all from the little one," AA replied, licking his lips. "She thinks about you quite a lot, actually, and –" He stopped as Loaño coughed, and made a cutting sign over her throat behind Nikolai. AA cleared his throat as she shut the door and then said, "Never mind all of that. I suppose she's told you everything so far and I would very much like to hear what you think of it."

"Well… you're the guy that the Seven are looking for," Nikolai began. "Honestly, I don't believe them when they say they'll leave if we hand you over. Lo saw them drop you here. If they had wanted to keep you, they would have kept you. So that means that they must not have expected you to live… though, how they know that, I don't know."

"Lucemon is my younger brother," AA explained. "That is how he knows that I am still alive. If I had died, he would have sensed it. It is just how we digimon work… or, well, him and I."

"So… why would he want you?" Nikolai wondered. "To kill you?"

"Yes," AA replied frankly. "He wants to kill me so that I cannot stop him. My failure in protecting the Digital World is what allowed them to come here… when I followed, Lucemon wounded me and I was incapacitated. He brought me with him in hopes that I would die seeing my failure ruin all your lives. But… now that I'm alive, he knows I'm going to do everything that I can to stop him. So, of course, he wants to stop me."

"So, yer the good guy?" Kidd surmised. Isamu _bark_ed by Kidd's side, wagging his little tail. Kidd reached down and petted Isamu's creamy white coat. "But wha' can ya do? Ya alrea'y failed once."

"I failed because it was only me up against all seven of them," AA lamented. "Normally, I would have been able to stop them all without too much trouble… but they have stolen and corrupted the power of our God, Yggdrasil. It's a great tree that grows at the center of the Digital World, and it is the being that was programmed to create digimon themselves. I was created by Yggdrasil as the Force of Balance in the Digital World, and tasked with keeping the peace. My brother, Lucemon, was created as the Force of Darkness and Destruction… because for every good there must be evil. Yggdrasil's programming mandated that it create its own enemy, Yggdrasil being the Force of Light and Creation."

"This is confusing," Loaño decided. "Your God is a _tree?"_

AA flicked an ear and then said, "Well, yes. And no. Yggdrasil takes the form of a tree when it doesn't really need to do anything. It hasn't left its tree-form since the beginning of the Digital World. And honestly, little one; worshipping a tree that actually _does_ something is much better than worshipping something as questionable as… oh, what's his name…? The reporter woman was talking about it this morning…"

"What, God?" Nikolai guessed.

"Aye, that," AA decided. "Honestly, from what I've gathered from you, little one, the existence of this 'God' fellow is much more questionable than the existence of Yggdrasil. After all, Lucemon and I _are_ its sons, and Lucemon being here now is proof of its existence. But I digress… Lucemon was able to deceive me and corrupt the Yggdrasil Tree and steal a corrupted Yggdrasil Seed from its branches. Using the power of the Tree, he overthrew the Digital World, cast it into chaos, and then came to the Human World to plant the Yggdrasil Seed and eventually destroy the Human World upon its growth. That's the short version of it all. I don't yet have the energy to go into the long version."

"So, turning you in is a bad idea," Nikolai decided. "But what the hell are we going to do? Everyone is looking for you!"

AA sipped his tea and stated, "I will not be found. Not so long as I have my partner. Right, little one?"

"Huh? Me?" Loaño gasped. She had just been processing all of that information when he mentioned it. "Partner? Are you nuts? I don't like what's happening right now, but I don't want to get myself killed!"

"I'm afraid you don't have much of a choice…" AA admitted sadly. "Like I said, I cannot overthrow Lucemon and cure the Yggdrasil Tree on my own. I'm going to need the help of my human partner – you. Without you I won't have the strength to overthrow the corruption in the Yggdrasil Tree."

"How the hell are you so sure that your partner is me?"

"Because – I know it, and you know it," AA declared. "Every digimon is bonded with a human. Fate – if you want to call it that – will eventually bring them together. You and I were brought together, little one – you are my partner, and you're the one who can help me save these worlds from Lucemon. Without you, I won't be able to even get close."

Loaño frowned. "Again," she breathed, "how are you even _sure_ it's me?"

"You and I both share the same sort of being," AA told her. "You may not realize it yet, but as much as I stand as the Force of Balance for the Digital World, you stand as one for the Human World. I can feel that in you, little one. Besides, if you weren't my partner, I wouldn't be able to share my thoughts with you… nor would you have come to find me when I was wounded."

Loaño shook her head and repeated, "I want these idiots gone as much as you do, but I don't want to die doing it."

"Nothing like that will happen," AA declared, lashing his tail. "I would never allow it. But I'm going to need more than just you and I. There will have to be others… eventually, we will meet with them. When we are all together, we will unite to stop Lucemon and the Demon Lords."

"How do you know this?" Nikolai asked.

"Yggdrasil is all-knowing. It confided this in me," AA confessed. "Though I did my best to stop it, I suppose that in the end Yggdrasil is correct. It told me that I would find my partner in the Human World, along with the others destined to help me. I saw your face, Nikolai, and the faces of many other humans… with digimon to match. Together, we are the only ones who can defeat the Demon Lords and save both our worlds."

Loaño sighed. "Then I guess we don't have a choice. Fine; I'll help you," she decided. She reached out her hand and said, "Anything to keep other people from being hurt."

AA smiled gratefully at her and took her hand. "Thank you, little one," he said.

"I don't know what I have to do with all this," Nikolai began, "but I suppose I'll help, too. I'm not going to let Lo take all the action for herself…" As an afterthought, he added, his face reddening, "Or get hurt."

Kidd grunted, "Then there ain' nothin' I kin do to stop ya. I'll try an' keep people off'a yer tail, AA. People are inna panic, an' they'll do anythi' ta try an' save themsel'es. Jus' you make sure'at ya _really_ defea' 'em this time."

"I will," AA promised. "But for now, this is nothing but a waiting game. Until I have everything I need, I cannot act. We will have to wait until the other humans destined to help me and their digimon partners meet up. Then, something will bring us all together… hopefully then I'll know what to do."

Loaño looked out the window and then frowned. "Nikki… it's after dark," she informed him.

Nikolai swore. He reached into his pocket and then looked to Kidd, asking, "Is it alright if I stay here tonight? I kind of don't have a choice."

"Yeah, yeah," Kidd decided, waving it off. "I'll git the couch se' up downstairs." He got up to do that, Isamu wagging his tail and following after him.

Nikolai showed Loaño his phone and said, "I'm… just going to let my Mum know where I'm at, all right?"

Loaño nodded. Nikolai left the room, and she leaned back, sighing. She closed her eyes and let the events of the day wash over – she hadn't known what to expect when AA woke up, but she knew it wasn't what had happened. It was a lot of information to process all at once, and so quickly, and she knew that there was no way that this was all there was to this mess.

_But me, fighting to save the whole Earth?_ She thought, frowning. _Sure, I'd do anything to save my friends… or Kidd… or Isamu, even… but everyone on Earth? Not to mention we'd probably have to save the Digital World, too…_ Aloud, she finished, "That's a lot of pressure."

"I have faith in you," AA told her gently, putting his hand on her shoulder. She opened her eyes to see him smiling calmly at her. "This is my mission… and I feel horrible about dragging you and others into it. I'm sorry. If it weren't for my screw up, the Human World wouldn't be in peril."

Loaño nodded, accepting his apology. "You're just one guy. Your God couldn't have expected you to do it all yourself," she reasoned. "You must be a pretty powerful guy in your world."

AA chuckled and said, "Perhaps… though I don't think _power_ really has anything to do with being capable of defending what you love. Speaking of, that boy… you know him well?"

Loaño stiffened and said, "Look, if you're going to be shifting through my mind all the time what's stopping you from figuring it all out yourself?"

"Etiquette," AA replied simply. "Boundaries. I have no desire to invade your personal thoughts, little one."

"I don't want to talk about it right now," Loaño decided. "It's getting late. All this talking has made me tired." _I don't want to talk about my feelings for Nikolai while he's still here…_

_Of course,_ AA replied. Loaño threw him a look of shock, and he told her, "Sorry. I don't fully understand the situation, but I do understand that you feel that right now is an inappropriate time to bear your soul to me. I apologize… but now that we can hear each other's thoughts, it's going to happen a lot."

She patted him on the head and told him, "I'm going to go check on Nikki. His mother can be pretty tense and snappy when she's worried about him."

"And your mother?" AA wondered.

Loaño looked at him, her eyes wide. AA's eyes slowly widened as she felt him come to the necessary realization. "I-I apologize, little one," he said, sounding as if he had been punched in the stomach. "I… I didn't look at that…"

Shaking her head, Loaño stood up and told him, "I think I'm going to go now."

"Of course," AA murmured. _I'm sorry, little one…_ he thought to her. _For everything._

_I know,_ she replied. _I'm going to help you fix it._

Loaño left the room, her heart heavy and her shoulders weighed down. It would be a long time before that weight left her.

* * *

Loaño was at the bottom of the steps and in the living room by the time that Nikolai had ended the call with his mother. He had obviously heard her coming, and he put his phone back into his pocket. "It's all right for me to stay," he told her.

"Good," Loaño decided. "Better you stay here than get caught outside by… whatever's out there waiting for you."

"I've seen 'em," Nikolai confessed. "They're like demons mixed with dragons or something. Really long arms and sewed-up skin. They can fly, too. I haven't seen or heard of them bothering airplanes or anything, but I wouldn't doubt that they could take one down. There are other things, too." He sat down on the couch, beside the blankets and pillows that Kidd had found for him to use tonight. "You never think that something like this is going to happen in your lifetime, you know?"

"You certainly never think you're going to be involved in stopping it, either," Loaño admitted. She sat next to him and frowned, folding her fingers together.

"So you're really going to help him?" Nikolai realized.

"Yeah," Loaño said. She was surprised at herself – she had no qualms about admitting that she was going to risk her life to help AA save their worlds. "He can't do it on his own. I can't explain it, Nikki, but he needs me. He can't do it without my help."

"But what if he's a bad guy, too? Like the Seven?" Nikolai wondered, a skeptical look on his face.

Loaño sighed. Nikolai was a person who liked asking questions – he liked knowing all the details, no matter what they were. He had always been like that. She told him, "He's not a bad guy, Nikki. Don't ask me how I know that. I do. I don't think Lucemon would have wounded him so badly and then thrown him away if he were one of them."

"You trust this digimon already? You just met him!" Nikolai exclaimed. "God, Lo; I _know_ you – it takes you _months_ to really trust someone enough to call them your friend, let alone go with them into danger like this!"

Loaño closed her eyes and lamented quietly, "It wasn't the same with you."

Nikolai was silent. She could hear the sound of his breathing, but she didn't open her eyes to look at his face. She could sense that he wanted to touch her somehow – lay his hand on her shoulder, or take her hand in his… _something._ It was there in the air, but neither of them did anything about it.

"I'm sorry," Nikolai finally admitted. "I don't suppose I should be questioning you on something that you don't even understand. If that guy really is Earth's only hope, and he absolutely _needs_ you to help him, then I guess I'll do whatever I can to help. He said that I was one of the ones his God said would do something about this mess. I don't suppose I have a choice. I want these guys off our world before something worse happens."

Loaño opened her eyes and looked at him. She could see the determination in his eyes, masking his doubt. She thought of the look on his face when he looked at her at the party, just before AA fell into their world and the Seven began their domination. She thought of the kiss, too. It all seemed to be forever ago…

"I'm sorry," Nikolai said again. "About that night."

"Hm?" Loaño grunted, coming out of her thoughts. "You mean the party?"

Nikolai nodded. Somehow he must have guessed what she was thinking about, or he had been thinking of it himself. "Looking back, it probably wasn't the best thing to do at the time… but I did it, and I'll own up to that. I'm not going to take back what I said to you, either. I know that now isn't the best time to explore it all in great detail, though. For the record, though, I'm sorry. Celena put you up to it… I didn't want it to happen like that."

"How are you so sure that Celena was the one to put me up to the duet?"

"Because I _know_ you," Nikolai said, smiling at her. "I know you enough to know what you will and won't do willingly. You don't like it when things get decided for you." He yawned, and then said, "Besides, she likes poking her nose into our business more than anything, I think."

"She's always been like that," Loaño mumbled. "She's just trying to help." Yawns are a dreadfully contagious thing, and Loaño caught on and yawned herself. She rubbed her eyes, suddenly realizing how tired she actually was.

Nikolai laid a hand on her back and said, "You should go and get some sleep."

"If I can," Loaño said tiredly. She wasn't sure if the weight on her shoulders would crush her into slumber, or if the pressure of it all would cause her mind to tumble and race and prevent her from sleeping at all. She stood up, though, and yawned a second time. "G'night, I suppose."

Nikolai stood up and laid his hands on her shoulders. He looked her in the eyes and said, "It's going to be all right. I'm here, all right? I'm going to help you."

Loaño pulled away from him and grumbled, "I know that; you don't need to keep reminding me like I can't take care of myself or anything…"

Nikolai smirked and told her, "I know." He stepped towards her and kissed her on the forehead, ever so lightly. He turned away from her after that and went about fixing the couch up into a suitable bed. "Good night," he told her.

Loaño absently rubbed her forehead. There was no wetness there, but there was a soft warmth that seemed to spread through her body that originated from that spot. She shook her head of it and turned away from him, heading up the stairs.

She thought, unsure of whether or not AA could hear her or would intervene, _As good as that cake would be… now just isn't the time. I get the feeling that this is going to be hell – not just for me, but for the other people that AA said were going to be involved. Whoever they are, I hope we can meet up soon and stop this mess… before what's happened begins swallowing our lives a whole lot more than it already has…_


	3. Episode 2

**Episode 2: The Brave Knight-To-Be and the Cowardly Bookworm**

The sky was gloomy. Not the rainy sort of gloomy, but the doomy sort of gloomy, if that was a valid form of description. Hatayo didn't like it any more than she liked walking around town by herself. She had never liked it in the first place, but with the horridly gloomy sky, it was making her much more edgy and nervous. She wrung her hands together to try and relieve the stress – she had wanted to bring a book or two, but her parents had insisted that it was rude to bring a book to a friend's house before pushing her out the door.

Hayato had carefully memorized the directions to Hikaru's house and was replaying them in her mind as she walked the streets. She tried to avoid looking around herself – she didn't want to see the house on the other side of the street that was torn apart, or the bat-like monsters stalking the streets and skies. None of them bothered her – it was broad daylight, and it would be for a long while – and Hayato wanted to keep it that way.

She had wanted to get a ride to Hikaru's house because of the monsters, in fact. But her mother hadn't the time because she was rushing out to meet a client and discuss the rebuilding and remodeling of their home, and her father couldn't give her a lift because he was late for an appointment with the board of his hospital. Her father had insisted that the walking would be good for her – much better than sitting inside and reading books all day. Hayato had almost cried.

But she saved her tears for when she left her home and began walking. She had been crying for the majority of the journey, and her eyes were hurting. She rubbed them gently and sniffled. She wasn't looking around too much, but she could tell that no one was on the streets – people looking at her from within their homes must have thought she was insane. The digimon monsters paid no attention to her, however, and she was all right with that. The more invisible she was, the safer she would be.

People were discouraged against traveling long distances now that they were under the Seven's form of martial law. The digimon that seemed to be on watch for travelers sneaking about at night didn't seem to like bothering with automobiles, but most people took the hint that driving at night would be a bad idea. As far as Hayato knew, airports were allowed to send and receive planes at night – but sent planes went with an escort of the demonic digimon and received planes were grounded immediately until morning. Trains, however, seemed to be unaffected – other than the fact that the digimon sentries were posted _inside_ the trains themselves.

As much as it seemed to her parents that Hayato was ignoring the whole of the world's plight in her books, Hayato herself was trying to wrap her brain around what was happening. She knew what everyone else knew – they were currently under watch by seven powerful digimon called the Seven Demon Lords. Their armies patrolled the streets of the world, while other digimon seemed to be filtering in from their own Digital World. Apparently, according to them, it was much safer here for the moment than it was in their own world. Lucemon, the leader of the Seven, was looking for his older brother – and apparently his capture would release them from the Seven's rule. Authorities were looking for this being, AncientAnubismon, everywhere, and seemed to be having no luck.

Hayato highly doubted that would be all Lucemon wanted, though. She had a feeling that this was more than him simply hunting for his brother. The darkness coming from the top of Mount Fuji told her so. It gave her chills to glance at. Anyone who tried to get close to the Seven's hideouts were immediately deterred somehow, in a way that didn't harm them at all – except for the American Demon Lord, Beelzemon. He traveled too much, too fast, and too often for him to be caught.

She stopped at a corner, her legs aching. She looked up at the street sign and sighed with relief when she realized that she had arrived. She turned onto the street and began searching for Hikaru's particular address. There were fewer ruined homes on this road than Hayato had seen on her way over – her neighborhood had been mostly untouched, except for a home down the road. Most of the worse-off neighborhoods had seen more destruction. People were being found every day in the rubble of their homes. It made Hayato slightly sick to hear about it.

Finally she found Hikaru's home. She pushed all of the worrying thoughts out of her mind, not wanting to seem depressed when she entered her friend's home for the first time. She had dressed casually, yet properly, with dressier jeans and a white button-up shirt. Her tennis shoes were the only dirty things about her. Her red hair was pulled up in a ponytail that she had done herself. Normally that wouldn't have been able to happen, but since her mother had rushed off without bothering to fix her daughter's hair, Hayato had been left to her own devices.

She walked up to the front door and gave a polite series of soft, yet loud, _knock_s. She then took a step back and waited to be invited inside.

A lovely older woman opened the door. Her hair was short and black, and she wore a lovely blouse and a pair of simple white jeans. She had the same blue eyes as Hikaru, though they weren't as electrifying. Hayato gave her a polite bow.

"You must be Hayato," the woman decided. "Hikaru told me she'd be having a friend over."

Hayato stood up straight and nodded, confirming her identity. The woman smiled and said, "Call me Rinoa, all right? I'm Hikaru's mother. Come on in."

Rinoa stepped aside, and Hayato walked inside their home. It was much smaller than anything she was used to – her house was four stories had had so many rooms that she had gotten lost when she was little and playing hide-and-seek with her sisters. This home couldn't be more than two stories, with a small basement, and was furnished with a less lavish hand; yet everything seemed to be in a lovely arrangement that made the house feel open and homey. Hayato took off her shoes at the door.

"Hayato's here, Hikaru!" Rinoa called. "I'm off to work!"

"Alright!" came the familiar voice from the kitchen, which was an offshoot of the hallway-like entryway to their home. Hayato got out of the way as Rinoa found her coat and put it on.

Rinoa gave Hayato a smile and said, "Have fun!" before leaving. Hayato looked through the window on the door, making sure that Rinoa got out onto the street in her car safely. When she fell back onto her feet and turned around, Hikaru was suddenly in the hallway, too.

"You were supposed to be here an hour ago!" Hikaru exclaimed. "What happened?!"

"I… had to walk," Hayato said nervously.

"Walk?!" Hikaru gasped. "All the way from your house to here?! In this bullshit? No one could give you a ride?"

"My parents needed to be at work," Hayato answered quietly. "My father said that walking would be good for me."

Hikaru rolled her eyes and said, "Next time, just call me. My mom or dad would be more than happy to give you a lift."

Hayato nodded, deciding that next time she would do just that. Hikaru took her hand and said, "Come on; I know my house is nothing like yours, but I want to show you around!"

And show Hayato around she did. Hikaru took Hayato to nearly all the rooms in her home, showing her bedrooms, bathrooms, the kitchen, the living room, the basement, and everything in between. The backyard wasn't really anything special – all it had was a jungle gym from Hikaru's younger years, but it was fenced-in and private, with a nice tree in the back that Hayato determined would be perfect for reading under.

Finally, Hikaru took Hayato up to her bedroom. It was nicely decorated and clean, with a carpeted floor and pink flowers painted on the walls. Hikaru's bed was nice-looking as well, decorated with various stuffed animals and pillows. She had a bookshelf containing manga and books, with a shelf dedicated to movies and video games. A television and gaming systems were set up by the bed.

"This is my room," Hikaru said. "I know my house isn't as crazy as yours, but…"

"It's nice," Hayato decided. She stepped into Hikaru's room and said, "It's nice to be in a different house."

"You don't get out much, do you?" Hikaru determined, flopping down on her bed. She patted the space next to her, inviting Hayato to sit down. Hayato took the offering and sat, finding the bed cheaply firm but comfy in its own way.

She shook her head and said, "No."

"So, what do you do for fun?" Hikaru wondered, an eyebrow raised.

"I read," Hayato replied. "Really, I read anything I can get my hands on."

"You ever read any manga?" Hikaru wondered.

"My parents don't like manga," Hayato explained. "They say that it's not practical to read something as fantastical as comics. So I've been secretly ordering some manga books for myself. I have a personal maid who brings them to me behind my parents' backs."

"Wow," Hikaru decided, smirking, "that's pretty devious, Hayato."

Hayato shrugged and said, "I don't get to go outside. I don't have many friends. I don't understand too much about computers… All I really can do is read. I don't really have any other special skills."

"Everyone's got something they're good at," Hikaru told her. "Someone like you can't just be good at reading."

"It's the only escape I have," Hayato admitted. "I don't like sports; I'm no good at music… Reading is all I have."

Hikaru frowned, and then she shook her head. She laid a hand on Hayato's and asked, "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine," Hayato replied, knowing what Hikaru was talking about. "And again; thank you so much for being there…"

She smiled back and said, "It wasn't any problem. Did you tell your parents about it, though?"

Hayato nodded and replied, "I did… but they thought I was joking. My father said that I should have been lucky to be asked to dance by anyone and that I had been overreacting by being so uncomfortable. My mom said that if I didn't want to dance with them I should have just said 'No' and left. I tried explaining to them about how frightened I was and how uncomfortable they made me, but they didn't listen."

Hikaru shook her head and swore, "Fuck; that's not right! What the hell kind of parents do you have? If me and Hamlet and Jaen didn't show up, you could have been hurt, or worse! And in their own backyard, too! What would they have said if you'd been hurt?"

"They wouldn't believe me," Hayato murmured. She lifted her legs up to place her head on her knees. She wrapped her arms around her legs and said, "They haven't believed anything I've said since my sisters moved out. My sisters used to be the ones to make sure I was all right, because my parents are so busy working… If I ever cried, Haruto would hug me and wipe away the tears and sing me a song. If I were hurt, Hikari would get me a bandage and tell me to get up and keep going. If I needed help with homework, Hinata would always be there. They were my shield from my parents' indifference… and when their careers took off and they became famous and successful and moved out, I lost them."

"Do they know what's going on?" Hikaru wondered.

Hayato shook her head. She huddled closer to herself and confessed, "I'm so meek and cowardly that I haven't had the courage to pick up the phone and talk to any of them. They call me and talk to me, but then I don't have the pluck to tell them how I feel. I freeze up whenever the moment comes and I can't seem to get over that. My parents want what's best for me… they want me to be successful and happy, too…"

"But they're going about it all the wrong way!" Hikaru decided. "What is it that you want to do, Hayato?"

"The only thing I'm good at is reading… and writing," Hayato replied. "I decided that if I was going to be anything, I would be a writer and write books. I have so many ideas… But when I told my parents, they laughed at me and said that they could think of ten other more successful and practical things for me to be that they decided to choose my career for themselves. It hurt me so much that I cried myself to sleep for weeks after that."

Hikaru was stunned. "That's _horrifying,_ Hayato!" she exclaimed. "And you've told _no one?"_

Hayato shook her head. "What would be the point? What could anyone do to change my parents' minds? I'm the only one who can do that… and I don't have the courage to do it. If my sisters were here, they'd be able to explain it to them… but they're not… and they're probably tired to taking care of their weepy, cowardly baby sister."

Hikaru wrapped her arms around Hayato and held her close. Hayato wasn't crying – she had cried all her tears she could muster on the subject already – but she felt like weeping. Hikaru rubbed her back and said nothing, but the contact was good. It felt good to get that off of her chest, even though Hayato found it impolite to bear her soul to someone she hardly knew.

"Come on, Hayato," Hikaru decided after a moment. "Let's go get some ice cream. There's a place not too far from here that's still up and running…"

Hayato gave a small nod and agreed, "A-Alright."

* * *

Loaño awoke to the sound of things _clank_ing and _clatter_ing down below. She frowned and thought, _Why does he decide that it's his Gods-given right to make breakfast every time he stays here?_

_Is that the boy making such a racket?_ AA asked, hesitantly popping into her thoughts. _It's kept me awake most of the morning! What is he doing?_

_He's cooking,_ Loaño explained. _Nikki's mother isn't the best cook in the world and she's usually too busy to make food anyway so Nikki does it all himself most of the time. He's a good cook, but he's pretty noisy._ To prove her point, the sound of whistling came up from the steps and into her ears. _How are you feeling?_

_Other than the earache? Fine,_ AA reported. _My shoulder's a bit stiff but that will work out on its own. Otherwise I'm all right. You?_

_Well, I fell asleep pretty hard,_ Loaño told him. _ So I suppose that I'm all right. Think you can mosey on downstairs to get something to eat?_

_That's good, little one,_ AA replied. _I am pretty hungry…_

_Come on, then,_ Loaño decided. She pushed herself out of bed, not bothering to change out of her pajamas. They were comfortable pair of shorts and a white tank top that revealed nothing except her stomach when she stretched her arms over her head. Her hair was in its usual blonde mess, and she ran a brush through it before she walked into the hallway.

There, for the first time, she saw AA on his own two feet. His hair was so long it seemed to reach his heels, even in the ponytail that Loaño had put it in. His tail was elevated slightly, and his ears were perked up. His eyes gleamed silver as he looked up at her.

That was just the thing that made Loaño snort and laugh. AA tilted his head and cocked an ear, asking, "Little one, are you all right?"

"You're _short!"_ Loaño gasped, calming herself down. She wiped her eyes and went on, "And you call _me_ the little one?"

AA crossed his arms, the black and white stones on his wrists flashing. He looked up at her and then said, "Ah! I am short! Sorry, normally I _am_ a bit taller than this… I must have degenerated into my Rookie form when Lucemon injured me. I didn't even notice! At any rate, I like calling you that so I won't stop any time soon."

Loaño grunted, "I don't care what you call me – I just thought that was funny. Now, what do you mean by _Rookie_ form? You guys have forms?"

AA shrugged and then said, "They're more like stages of growth and development, like a human. Except when we degenerate from a certain stage, we retain all our knowledge. Baby digimon are digimon that have just hatched, and the levels range from them to Mega, and some even beyond that. Rookie is stage after In-Training, which is the stage after Baby. It's the most common stage that current digimon are in. There are also several other types of stages, but that will take too long to explain and the smell coming from downstairs is lovely." His tail began wagging, and he smiled eagerly.

"So, you're pretty weak right now?" Loaño surmised.

"Oh, no; my power right now could overcome the strength of any Mega-level digimon," AA told her. "Remember, little one, I'm special. Some digimon, no matter what their form, are surprisingly strong. Some Rookies can defeat Ultimates, the stage just before Mega. Some Champions, the stage after Rookie, can defeat Ultimates, too. Mega levels, however, are far above Ultimates in their levels of sheer power."

"So you're just a really fucking powerful digimon?" Loaño decided.

AA nodded and said, "You could say that, yes. I would have to be – I am the one who usually ends up taking on all seven of the Demon Lords at once. That's not easy… not even for Royal Knights. They're digimon who have proven their strength and valor and spend their days helping me guard the Yggdrasil Tree. They mostly handle littler disputes around the Digital World while I handle the larger tasks."

"Huh," Loaño grunted, crossing her arms over her chest. "Whatever; I'm hungry. We can hear all of this later. Come on, let's get some breakfast."

She led the way down the steps and into the kitchen. AA kept up well, but he seemed to have trouble using his left arm. Whenever he would try and use it, Loaño could feel the muscles in her left arm ache in response. She herself felt no pain when she moved it, but when AA stretched it too far she could feel something pulling that wouldn't normally be pulling.

"Sorry," AA breathed, touching his left shoulder. "Can you feel that?"

"Yeah," Loaño admitted as they walked into the kitchen. "What, so I can feel your pain too? What happens if you get a hole blasted into your chest or something?"

"Well, I would most definitely be in a lot of pain," AA replied. "In fact, I think I would be dead if my Core was blasted out of me. You, though, would probably only feel a fraction of it and nothing else would happen to you physically."

"So long as I don't get killed or something," Loaño sighed. "There's nothing I can do about… _this,_" she indicated the odd relationship between them by gesturing between the two of them, "so I guess I just have to deal with it."

"What's going on now?" Nikolai wondered, stirring the contents in the frying pan. It looked like eggs – Loaño had no problem with eggs – and most likely bacon – she also had no problem with bacon. AA seemed to enjoy the smell. His tail was wagging a bit faster, and he was standing on his toes, as if he were trying to see the source of it.

"Bah, nothing important," Loaño scoffed. "I just feel his pain, is all."

"Ouch," Nikolai said, grimacing. "You know, the more details I hear about this whole 'partnering with digimon' thing, the less I like it."

"Yes, well… every relationship is different," AA explained, "even those between humans and digimon. You and your partner most likely won't have the same relationship as another human and their partner. Then again, I'm not sure because this is the first instance of it happening – to my knowledge, at least. The empathy link might be standard."

Nikolai sighed and then said, "Well, then I hope my partner will be something that can take some hits."

"Digimon are very durable beings," AA assured him.

Nikolai found some plates and then dished out the egg-and-bacon mixture. He divided it up so that there was an equal portion for all of them and then set the food before its respective consumers. Loaño dug into it immediately. Nikolai waited for his to cool. AA sniffed his food cautiously and then, with a wagging tail, took a handful and put it into his mouth.

"This is good!" he decided, his tail wagging. "Thank you very much!"

"No problem," Nikolai offered. "To me, if you're going to crash at someone's house, you should at least make them breakfast or something in return."

"I keep telling you that you don't have to do that," Loaño grumbled.

"I don't have to do a lot of things," Nikolai countered. He ate another bite, chewed, swallowed, and then went on, "But I still do them anyway."

Loaño rolled her eyes and kept on eating. AA looked between them, and then looked at Loaño. He tilted his head and decided that it was probably one of those things that he shouldn't intrude upon.

* * *

Hayato and Hikaru spent the rest of the day together. Unfortunately, Hayato didn't get to meet much of Hikaru's family – her mother had been working all day, and so had her father. Her brother was out with his girlfriend, and her cousin, Naota, was on a date with his boyfriend. So, the whole day was simply Hayato and Hikaru hanging out together. Hikaru took Hayato to the ice cream shop, where they each got ice creams, and they carried them around the city while they walked and talked.

After their ice creams were done, they stopped into a clothing store and tried on different kinds of clothes. Hayato wasn't much for choosing her own outfits – her mother did that for her more often than not – and she found it all enjoyable. Unfortunately, they hadn't the money to spend on clothes, so they left the shop and went on.

They came upon a bookstore and Hayato politely requested that they venture inside. Hikaru voice no protest, so they went in and browsed, looking through all the books. Hayato took the time to explain to Hikaru that it didn't matter what kind of book it was, she would probably love it for some reason or another in the end. Hikaru recommended a book called _Butterfly Wednesdays,_ and Hayato mentally put it on a list of books to buy the next time she went shopping.

Their day came to an end at Hikaru's house, where they made sandwiches for dinner. The sun was crossing the sky and the gloomy gray clouds were becoming darker when Hayato realized that she had better start walking if she were to get home on time. Hikaru insisted that they could wait for Rinoa to give her a ride, or that Hikaru could walk with her, but Hayato told her that she would walk herself. She didn't want Hikaru or Rinoa to get into trouble if they were caught out after dark. She promised that she would be able to get home before the sun set.

So Hayato was again on the street, feeling the rush of wind as cars flew by to get home. There were people out and about and walking around now, most of them heading into their homes and shutting doors behind them. Hayato even sighted some digimon wandering to and fro.

_The home by nightfall rule cannot possibly mean them too,_ Hayato decided. _They really have nowhere to go._ She wasn't aware of any people taking digimon into their homes. She didn't think they would make very good pets. In fact, she would sooner not encounter one at all, so she sped up her pace and kept walking.

She had been walking for about a half an hour when she realized that she may actually not make it back in time – the sky was beginning to darken much quicker, and she was about twenty minutes from home. Her heart began to race and she began jogging, pushing herself to go faster even though her feet and legs were aching. Street lights were beginning to go on – those that worked, anyway – and it was getting harder to see as the sky turned to twilight.

Hayato shivered beginning to feel the chill of the night creep up on her and she suddenly felt as if she were being watched. There were other people – kids, mostly – hurrying to their homes, but they were close and were soon sheltered. Digimon scattered from the streets, as if they knew better than to be on them at night.

Her heart was pounding so fast that she thought it would burst in her chest as she ran. Her lungs were heaving and her ribs were aching – she had never liked gym class – and she felt that if she ran any more she would trip and fall or collapse and pass out. Oh, why didn't she take the ride that Hikaru had offered? It was too late now to call for one, from Hikaru or her parents. In the gloom, she was beginning to lose her way.

Thinking that she was turning on the right street, Hayato realized that it was indeed the wrong one when she came face-to-face with the first digimon she had ever seen close-up. It was indeed a frightening creature, standing at least two average humans high. It was skinny and walked with a hunched back. It was covered in black, leathery armor that seemed to be sewn to its body. Its jaws were gray and fleshy and had fangs that dripped saliva. Four red eyes gleamed like little rubies at her, and as Hayato locked eyes with them she was immobilized. It raised its long arms, with hands tipped with red claws, and flared its leathery wings, as if in victory. It extended a long, red tongue close to her face. She could smell its horrid, stagnant breath and wanted to vomit.

"Well, lookie what I have here…" it _purr_ed. "My first catch of the night!"

Hayato tried to move her body, but she was frozen. The sheer height of the creature made her recall the night when Sen and Kuni tried to intimidate her into "dancing" with them, and she let out a small _squeak_ that was meant to be a scream. She tried to blink, but her eyes were locked with the digimon's, and she felt like weeping. As she stood there, immobilized, twilight turned to dusk and dusk turned to night. In the dark, under the gloomy sky, the monster before her seemed to become so much more monstrous.

It reached for her, and Hayato felt tears rolling down her face as she awaited the inevitable. She had no idea what happened to those caught at night – it was supposedly said that they were "incarcerated and then released in the morning" – but she wasn't sure if that was true or not. She didn't want to find out. _Mother and Father are going to be so upset with me…_ she could only imagine the words they would have for her.

_"Protect Wave!"_

Suddenly there was a barrier between her and the monstrous digimon. The creature reared back as it touched the barrier, _roar_ing and _hiss_ing in pain and fury as its hand smoked, as if burned. The eye contact was broken and Hayato could finally move again. She turned to run only to find that her legs were numb beneath her and she fell onto her knees on the ground.

"A-Are you all right, sweetie?" someone asked kindly.

Hayato looked up, shaking violently, to find that a little girl was looking at her from above. She wore a white outfit with a poufy skirt and a nun's habit. Her hood was something like a pale pink rabbit, with long ears stretching down to her back, and feathery pink wings stretched down to her waist up front. Her hair was white, and her outfit was decorated and trimmed with little golden crosses. In her hands she held a glowing golden trident, its heart-shaped bottom stuck into the pavement.

The red-headed girl could only curl up and shiver, unable to speak. She looked up at the white-hooded girl with eyes that pleaded _Help me!_

Before them, the digimon monster who had tried to capture Hayato was recovering. "I'll get you," he _hiss_ed. He raised one hand and his claws extended, glowing blood red. _"Crimson Claw!"_ he _roar_ed, slicing at the little girl's barrier.

The white-hooded nun-child leaned against her trident as the shield around she and Hayato was beginning to weaken and falter. She grunted with effort and cried, "I'm sorry!" as her shield shattered around them. She fell to her knees and shivered as the monster loomed over them.

"You miserable little wretches!" the demon dragon snarled. "I'll gut you both for that!"

"Not on my watch!" someone shouted. "It's my job to save those in distress! And I do my job with pride! _Fifth Rush!"_

A white streak crossed the air above them and rammed into the opposing digimon. Hayato looked up to see a small, white, four-legged dragon that stood up to her waist clawing at the other digimon. His red cape was billowing and blowing in the breeze, and he roared as he clawed and bit at the digimon beneath him.

"Blanc!" called yet another voice, this one peppy and female. Hayato looked again to see an almost identical copy of the white nun standing near them. She wore black, however, and her hood had ears and bat-like wings. Her habit was white, and she looked much older. Two handguns were holstered at her waist. Her dress was not as poufy, and the crosses decorating her were silver.

"N-N-Noir!" Blanc, the white one, cried. She stood up and hugged the older nun. Noir smiled and hugged her back.

"I'm glad you're all right…" Noir said, smiling, "But don't run off like that just because Huckmon says he senses someone in danger!"

"S-S-Sorry!" Blanc stammered. "I-I just wanted to see…"

"Yeah, yeah," Noir sighed, pulling away from Blanc, "no harm done, right? Huckmon took care of it."

"Of course I did!" Huckmon, the white dragon in the red cape, replied. He hopped off of his opponent, just as the demonic dragon gargled its last curse and disintegrated before Hayato's eyes. All that was left of it was a black egg about the size of Hayato's head. His cape billowing nobly behind him, Huckmon raised his head and smiled.

"Don't b-be so c-c-cocky, Huckmon!" Blanc insisted, sniffling and looking at the white dragon. "Royal Knights aren't c-c-cocky!"

Huckmon lowered his head and mumbled, "Sorry; I forgot." He raised his head again and looked at Hayato, his yellow eyes flashing. Hayato sat up and shivered, but she felt her heart return to its normal rate of beating upon looking at the digimon. Huckmon padded towards her and nudged her hand with his nose – his scales might have looked metallic from a distance, but they were surprisingly soft and furry to the touch. Hayato gave a little smile and rubbed his nose. As she rubbed, she felt something like static shock her fingertips and she pulled away.

"Sorry," Huckmon said, sitting on his haunches. "Furry things do that. I'm Huckmon. I'm training to be a Royal Knight – digimon who fight for truth and justice and protect the Digital World. Those two are the Sistermon sisters, Noir and Blanc. I sensed that you were in trouble and I came to help you, but I guess Blanc found you first."

"S-Sorry," Blanc mumbled, looking embarrassed.

"We couldn't just let that Devidramon take you away, though!" Noir declared.

Hayato was silent.

"Not much of a talker, are you?" Noir surmised.

"S-She's scared," Blanc pointed out.

"Come on," Huckmon said. He rubbed her hand with his nose and offered, "I'll help you up."

Hayato took his offer and grabbed onto the long horn on his nose. He was sturdy and tall and he helped her to stand on her feet. Her legs wobbled and threatened to collapse, but she straightened them and made them stable again. Huckmon smiled and asked, "How far are you from home?"

Looking around, Hayato found she had indeed taken a wrong turn when she ran into the Devidramon. It took her a moment to get her bearings before she answered quietly, "It's not too far…"

"We'll follow you, then," Huckmon decided. "If anything else tried to attack you, we'll fend them off. The Devidramon patrol the streets at night but never in great numbers… and it's only the right thing to do to protect you as you go home!"

Hayato found that she really had no other option. If she walked alone, she risked getting attacked by another Devidramon. She didn't know if she could live through that a second time. So, she nodded and accepted Huckmon's offer.

"What's your name, Red?" Noir asked, floating up into the air. Blanc followed, the ears of her hood floating around her.

"H-Hayato. Hayato Hinahana," Hayato replied.

"Hayato?" Huckmon repeated. His blue-tipped tail waved beneath his red cape. "I like that name. It's pretty."

Hayato wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. Huckmon rubbed his side against her leg and offered, "Hang onto me, all right? You look like you're going to collapse."

She touched his shoulder beneath his cape and held onto him. She didn't feel the shock again – but she did feel a sense of calm washing over her. Something about this digimon's presence made her feel… not quite like herself. Her heart was calm and she felt fine as the four of them walked towards her home.

* * *

They made it without being molested by Devidramon – or any of the other of the Seven's cronies. Huckmon watched Hayato open the gates to her wonderfully large home and shut them behind her. She gave him a hesitant wave and a silent _Thank you_ as she jogged up to her front door. Huckmon watched her enter before turning his back on the Hinahana estate.

"I'm worried," he decided.

"About what?" Noir asked. "She's safe and she's home. Now let's go!" She punched the air with her fists and said with a smile, "We've got more training to do!"

"I'm going to stay here and keep an eye on her," Huckmon decided, looking up at his teachers.

Blanc and Noir looked at one another, their identical gray eyes flashing. Then, Noir pointed at Huckmon and chortled, "Fine, stay, you silly dragon! But why? It's just a human!"

"Yes, but," Hukcmon paused, unsure, "she seems so fragile. She needs my help."

"For w-what?" Blanc wondered hesitantly.

Huckmon stamped his foot down and declared triumphantly, "I have no idea!"

The sisters groaned.

Huckmon sat down before the gate and looked into the home. There were lights on in the windows, and Huckmon could faintly hear the sounds of someone yelling. As he listened closer, he heard someone say, almost clear as day within his mind, _Please… please understand… It was just an accident… I'm not brave! I'm a coward! Stop yelling at me, please! Please listen to me… someone, anyone, please listen to me…_

The white dragon frowned and thought, _I'm listening, Hayato. And I'm here. With Yggdrasil as my witness, I will help you become brave!_

"Oh great, he's got that look on his face," Noir complained, looking down at Huckmon as the dragon looked through the gate. "He's going to get us into trouble because of this human, isn't he?"

"Genkoomon said to watch over him," Blanc murmured quietly. "And teach him how to be a Royal Knight. So we have to stay with him. He's so determined to help her…"

"Fine, fine," Noir decided, watching Huckmon crawl into the bushes. The dragon wrapped his cape around his body and laid his head on his blue-clawed paws. "But I am _not_ sleeping in bushes!"


	4. Episode 3

**Episode 3: Accidents Waiting To Happen**

Jaen took a deep breath to prepare for the oncoming barrage of arguing he was about to partake in. He wished that the police would handle him better – his arms were starting to ache from being held so roughly behind his back.

Admittedly, Jaen had not foreseen himself getting into this situation. No one could have, really – but he had simply lost track of time. It was easy to do, especially when he was hanging out with Aimi. It felt like he had barely been able to see her in the past few weeks – her area of town had been heavily damaged (thankfully only her garage suffered any serious damage), and her parents had expressly forbidden her to leave her home unless it was for school or for emergencies. So Jaen had to play the dutiful boyfriend and go and see her.

Unfortunately, the only time he ever found to do that was at night. Because of the new rule that no one would be allowed out at night, baseball practices had to be cut short. Games still ran every few days, but were often cut short by the arrival of nighttime when they could sometimes go on forever. It left Jaen precious little time for himself – or for Aimi. Though she cheered at his games, she was immediately packed up and shipped home when the sun began to set. She was to come home immediately after practice, and she was never one for defying her father when it came to her safety. Though she was a fiercely independent young woman, she still loved and listened intently to her father.

So Jaen had to do what he could – sneak out of his window at night and spirit his way over to her house. She would let him in through the back door and up to her room. They would socialize, hug, kiss, make out, fumble a bit, and then Jaen would be out of her house and on his way back to his own. He'd be home in time to sneak a shower and fall asleep at around one in the morning.

It had worked for the past week. Until today. He just _had_ to try and take a shortcut… and he ended up running out right in front of a police car. He was lucky he hadn't been run over or hit… but not so lucky that they had their headlights and flashlights trained all around them.

About a week after martial law had been engaged, the police forces for the world decided to try and sort of… take it over. The digimon had been running it for the first week – that had scared the living shit out of nearly anyone who looked outside at night. No one dared cross their path – but those who did were spirited away somewhere that they didn't come back from too easily. Suspicious, the police decided to take the matter into their own hands. Though digimon still roamed the streets, doing their rounds as usual, police were there as well, trying to keep the digimon from collecting too many people – they even picked up digimon. The police would keep the offenders in a cell for the night (depending on their age – if they were a lost child, they would be immediately returned home) and then escort them home in the morning. It stretched the police thin, but they were doing well enough to catch Jaen last night.

Being caught by the police stung Jaen a lot more than it should have – he was lucky his mother hadn't been on duty last night. If she had caught him… he probably wouldn't have survived the encounter. He was thankful that her night shift had been three days ago.

The police knocked on his door and waited for someone to answer. Jaen hoped to whatever God there was up above that gloomy sky that his mother wouldn't be the one to answer.

His mother answered.

Jaen swore under his breath and thought, _Well, there goes my faith in religion._

Yari Tsuchikawara was a taut, muscular woman with dark hair that was usually just as taut as she was. She was light on the makeup and her outfits were conservative and revealed nothing. She was dressed for work, in her uniform and with her badge displayed proudly on her chest.

"Jaen," Yari said tersely, trying to mask her surprise. It showed in her eyes, though, and it quickly turned into accusations. Jaen could sense the gears turning in her mind as she tried to comprehend why her fellow officers had dragged her son to her doorstep.

"Officer Tsuchikawara," one of the officers said, formally tipping his hat to her. "We caught your son out last night at around midnight. We took him back to headquarters and contained him until morning."

"Very good," Yari decided.

"He was lucky the digimon didn't get him," the other officer stated. "Who knows what might have happened to him then."

"Then I thank you for not allowing that to happen," Yari told them. "I'll see to it that you don't find him roaming the streets again. Go home and get some sleep."

The officers bowed to her and let Jaen go. They turned and walked back to their car and drove off. Jaen had been the only one in the car and in the station to be incarcerated for being out at night – he felt like an idiot for that. Everyone else had gotten the message – not him, apparently.

Jaen stepped into the house, his mother shutting the door behind him. She sighed and growled, "What in the _hell_ were you thinking, Jaen?! What were you _doing_ out there?!"

"Mom," Jaen began, "just listen to me, all right? I haven't been able to see Aimi in _weeks_. This was the only way I could! I realize that it was a stupid idea, all right? I just haven't seen her in so long…"

Yari sighed again and said, "You're just like your father; doing reckless things for a good reason."

Jaen frowned. His father had been one of the soldiers who had tried to fight back against the Demon Lords with all the rest of the world. Thankfully, he had been lucky enough to come back from it. He had even saved two of his comrades in the process, one from Scotland and another from Jamaica. The three were now good friends.

"It's driving me nuts," Jaen admitted. "All of the things going on… Aimi is my _release_ from all that! And not in a sexual way," he added quickly, realizing just how his mother would take that statement. "Getting to see her and not being able to talk to her is maddening!"

"I realize that," Yari replied. "But you can't just go taking off at night! What if a digimon had caught you instead of one of my fellow officers, hm? What if they took you and you didn't come back? Is Aimi worth that?"

"Yes," Jaen said, his tone serious. In his mind, Aimi Tano was worth more than that.

Yari shook her head and said, "I don't admire your idiocy, son; I admire your determination. However, the two are more or less becoming the same thing. No more nighttime silliness. Even if I have to lock all the doors and windows in the house, just promise me that you won't do anything this stupid again! Any other time I wouldn't care, but I _know_ just how messed up things really are out there. I don't want you caught up in it."

"I can handle myself, Mom," Jaen insisted.

"You all say that," Yari grunted, "but you've never seen just how destructive one of those digimon are when they're threatened or upset. And we've got them patrolling our streets and skies! Jaen, I don't want you hurt. We're doing all we can to keep the peace while this is going on, but between that, the night patrols, and searching for this AncientAnubismon fellow, we're stretched way too thin to afford wasting time in picking up idiotic teenagers off the streets!"

"You guys still don't have any leads on that digimon Lucemon's looking for?" Jaen wondered. He figured that by now there would be some sort of trace somewhere.

"It's been three weeks since the whole fiasco happened and we've got nothing," Yari admitted. "We're trying our best to find him before the digimon do. Maybe if we can question him, we'll get some answers about what really happened and just how strong those Demon Lords are."

"Why?" Jaen asked.

"Because I don't think they intend to leave," his mother stated frankly. "I don't think anyone believed that. The chances are slim that they will… but they're much larger that they won't. In case that happens, we want to be prepared to stop the Demon Lords any way that we must."

She reached for a coat and threw it on. She pulled her hair out of the collar and said, "I'm leaving. I don't want to hear anything more about you getting into trouble. Just to be sure…" She reached into Jaen's pocket and pulled out the keys to his car. She jangled them in front of his face and told him, "I'm taking these for a week."

"My _keys?"_ Jaen wailed. "But _Mom_ – I… it's… it's _my car!"_

"That your father and I bought for you," Yari finished. "We have the right to take it away from you. Buy the car back from us and this won't happen anymore. But until I know for sure that these late-night treks to Aimi's are going to stop, I'm making sure that you know the consequences for if they don't. I'll be home this evening."

Yari put on her hat and left. Jaen, heart pounding, mind racing, was left before the front door of his house, now completely unsure of what he was going to do.

* * *

Celena entered Haseo's home. It was clean and neat as always, which she always found surprising. Haseo's mother was a famously busy lawyer, especially since all of the damage done by the digimon. Celena was always amazed by Yosuya Misaki's ability to hold her career as high as she did while she held her three sons even higher.

Haseo was the middle child, stuck between his two brothers. Dominic was the eldest; a tall, lanky, boy who, with his gray hair and eyes, seemed to be something like a ghost. He had graduated from high school last year and had been planning on going to college, but Haseo had confessed that his plans had gone awry when the digimon attacked. Shirohane was the littlest, and in middle school. He, like Celena's younger brother Adam, somehow seemed full of energy despite all that was happening.

Celena didn't know much about Haseo's father, but apparently he had been some important man from some other country. He had been incredibly abusive to both Dominic and Haseo, however – Dominic especially, because he would often stand in for his younger brother – to the point that Celena remembered seeing them both come to school with unexplainable bruises multiple times. Once Dominic had come to school with his arm pulled out of its socket. The counselors were at their wit's end trying to figure the situation out.

Yosuya was finally rid of the man when Shirohane was born. He had been gone ever since. Celena was glad for that – those years had been the worst of Haseo's life. Though she knew they never openly talked about it, especially when Shirohane was around. The black-haired boy was unaware of what a monster his father had been to his elder brothers. Though Dominic had done his best to shield Haseo from the worst of their fathers' blows, Haseo watching what their father had done to Dominic had made him thoroughly traumatized.

She brushed those thoughts out of her mind – for the most part, they had all recovered from the mess. Still, Celena was more than happy to have been there for her friend through that time. Her house had been his safe haven when all of that was going on.

Dominic was doing dishes in the kitchen, his face stoic and expressionless as ever. Celena didn't pry into his business – Dominic was a scary person when his temper got the best of him, she knew – but she figured that he had taken all that had happened to him seriously when he'd stepped up to be a father-figure and an older brother to Shirohane. Celena knew that he still often attended anger-management courses in the city.

"Haseo's in his room," Dominic told her. He knew it was her, even though he hadn't looked to see who had come inside the house.

"Thanks," Celena breathed. She shrugged, and then asked, "So, how are things with you and Jayden?"

"Heh, fine," Dominic replied, cracking a smirk for a moment at the thought of his girlfriend. Celena had only met Jayden once or twice, but she could tell that she made Dominic extraordinarily happy. Celena didn't know much about the girl herself, but she knew that Jayden had a twin brother, Trinity, and that was about it. "Their house almost got screwed, but they're fine."

Celena nodded to indicate that she'd heard. Jayden and her brother lived on the worse side of town – that side had received worse damage than other parts. Families and belongings were still being rescued from their homes, intact or not, even now, three weeks later.

She walked down a hallway and through a door to Haseo's room. It was plainly decorated, with a poster here and there advertising a movie he liked or something. A bookshelf was filled with all the books he owned and loved, and his bed was set up like a bunk bed, yet it had no bottom to it. Haseo was beneath there, on his computer. Celena smirked as she remembered the times when she, Haseo, Shirohane, Adam, and sometimes even Loaño, would go beneath Haseo's bed and make a fort of blankets and tell scary stories.

"Knock knock," she announced, not bothering to knock on his door.

Haseo nodded his head and offered, "Hey. You get here all right?"

"It wasn't a problem," Celena assured him. "My mom will pick me up later."

Haseo yawned and then pushed himself away from his computer. Celena could tell that he was working on a song, either for himself or for the band. She wondered if he would ask her to sing something for him, just to see how it all really sounded. He often did, and Celena didn't mind at all. Haseo stood, and Celena pulled him into her arms for a hug.

They were smiling when they pulled away from one another. Haseo rubbed the back of his head and then asked, "So… what's going on? Any idea of when we'll be meeting up again?"

Celena frowned. Then, she shrugged and said, "Lo hasn't said anything all week. She's got something on her mind, I know; but she hasn't said anything regarding band practice. I'm worried about her, too." It wasn't easy for her cousin to lie or hold something inside that was important – but this time, she was being incredibly stubborn about it. Nikolai, too – whenever Celena would try to pester it out of her, Nikolai would step in like the muscular wall that he was and tell her to stop it. "Something's going on in that crazy head of hers, and Nikki knows about it. She won't tell me."

"Hopefully nothing bad happened," Haseo mumbled. "You know, after the party."

"Yeah," Celena sighed. "I should never have forced her to do that duet. It was a crazy idea… Haseo, do you think I put my nose into her business too much?"

Haseo tilted his head. "Is that a trick question?" he asked carefully.

"No," Celena promised.

"Well," Haseo breathed. "I think that you care for your cousin very much. She's like a sister to you. You only want what's best for her. Though… Celena… you aren't her mother, you know."

"Yeah, I know," Celena sighed. "I could never replace Aunt Molly, _or_ Uncle Kuro. No one could. But she's been so closed off since they died. So unhappy… Any person can see that Nikolai makes her happy!"

"Well, yes," Haseo agreed. He held up his hands and then said, "But there is a difference between interfering too much and letting her do her own thing. I've told you that you should let the two of them settle this themselves – it's the best way."

"Yeah, but…" Celena protested.

"Celena…"

She sighed and consented, "I know. But I'm just worried that something happened to her after the duet, you know? Something big? You know how Lo likes to really downplay big things as nothing at all…"

Haseo smiled and said, "Let her handle it herself. She'll ask you for advice when she wants to. Now, are we going to go over the material for this test, or not? I don't want to fail."

Celena smiled and said, "Show me what you've got." She glanced at the computer and asked, "Is that song for us?"

Haseo flushed – he was often embarrassed by the songs he wrote; not because he didn't like them, but because it was in his nature to be so bashful and humble – and went to close the document. "I-It's not done yet," he insisted hesitantly. "Still working out the kinks." He saved the document and then closed it. He turned to her and went on, "Let's get working…"

"Sure," Celena said, smiling. She pulled out a pencil from her pocket and said, "Let's get you ready for that test."

* * *

"So, you're, like, grounded?" Hamlet decided. He leaned back on the couch and put his arms behind his head.

"Pretty much!" Jaen decided, exasperated. "I thought I was too old to get grounded!"

Hamlet sighed and then said, "So… did you tell Aimi?"

Jaen nodded. He leaned back on the couch and sighed, saying, "She said to calm down and try not to overreact. Like I'm going to overreact!"

"You're overreacting right now," Hamlet pointed out. "That's why you picked me up from my house."

"Well, who the hell else am I going to overreact to?" Jaen wondered, raising an eyebrow to his friend. "You're the closest friend I have!"

Hamlet sat up and told him, "It'll be all right, man; just calm down. Maybe you and Aimi can see each other during school?"

"I've tried," Jaen explained. "You know how crazy our schedules are now, Ham; because we can't stay out at night they all have to cram everything into the day! Practices, club meetings, school, work, _everything._ It's frustrating! All day I only ever catch one or two glimpses of Aimi… we hardly have time to sit and say 'Hello'. Lunch time is crazy, too – you know she has to sit with her friends. If I go over there it'll be awkward."

"You're telling this all to the person who can't even see his boyfriend during school hours," Hamlet reminded him. "Naota's in middle school, remember? We're not even in the same building. You and Aimi are – be grateful for that, at least."

"It's about _all_ I am grateful for," Jaen groaned. "Naota's family isn't as overprotective as Aimi's. His aunt and uncle don't keep him home at all times. He's allowed to leave the house without someone following him."

"Why are her parents like that, anyway?" Hamlet wondered.

"Oh, Aimi's their only daughter so her father's so protective of everything about her," Jaen explained. "When I came to take her out on our first date he sat me down and threatened me with a shotgun to my nuts if my naughty bits came within a foot of hers. Let me tell you, that was the most awkward hug and kiss I've ever had to go through. I swear he was staked out at the place we went to, too."

"Where'd you take her?"

"To the park, of all places. In broad daylight," Jaen answered. "It was just for a walk. We went and got smoothies and sat by a tree and talked. It wasn't anything over the top."

"Heh," Hamlet chuckled. "Hey, I took Naota to a video game store. How's _that_ for not over the top?"

"Naota's different, though," Jaen reasoned. He sat up and crossed his arms over his chest. "He doesn't like over the top. Aimi… I don't know; I felt like I should have taken her to the top of a mountain or something."

Hamlet laid a hand on Jaen's shoulder. "I have never seen you get so worked up about a girl before," Hamlet admitted. "You really like her, don't you?"

Jaen nodded. He flushed, and then said, "Don't tell the other guys, will you?"

"I won't," Hamlet promised. He playfully poked Jaen in the arm and admitted, "Emotional Jaen is the Jaen that only I and Aimi know about."

"Thanks," Jaen said, sighing.

"No problem," Hamlet assured his friend. "Don't worry, Jaen; this will get resolved. One way or another…"

Jaen wasn't sure why, but he had a bad feeling just then. Hamlet did too… and he regretted putting it like that.

It was late in the evening when Yari drove Hamlet home. The two had hung about the house together, talking about this and that – baseball, girls, boys, video games, and other things. Hamlet had even gone so far as to snoop through Jaen's room and discover his adult magazines. It had taken Jaen twenty minutes to get Hamlet to give them up. With Hamlet around, Jaen felt like he was a kid again – having a classic sort of fun that he hadn't experienced in a long time.

They played video games, especially the new cooperative RPG from Shinigami Conglomerate, a video game company that wasn't incredibly old, but very, very popular. Their games touched ever genre of the spectrum and they seemed to excel at doing most anything. They rivaled the three great video game companies of the world and sometimes rose above them – but there were just some titles that Shinigami Conglomerate couldn't compete with.

Still, the cooperative RPG was an amazing game – the graphics were delightful and the gameplay didn't have too much of a learning curve, and yet it was possible that, if one spent enough time learning how to play the game properly, they could end up with the best weapons and items through the extensive crafting system.

Jaen and Hamlet played a new campaign and got about a third of the way through the game before Hamlet had to leave. Hamlet had wanted to walk, but Yari insisted upon giving him a ride… and Yari Tsuchikawara was incredibly hard to argue with on that topic, being a police officer and all. So Jaen was alone in the house again.

He was about to make a microwave dinner when his phone _buzz_ed in his pocket. He pulled it out to find that he had a message from Aimi. It said, _"Hey; how are you doing?"_

Jaen smiled and put down the frozen dinner. He sat in a chair by the table and typed back, _"Fine. I miss you, though. What about you?"_

It took a second for her to reply, _"I miss you too, Jaen. I'm fine… just a bit chilly, is all."_

_"Hmmm… I wish I could be there to warm you up,"_ Jaen replied.

_"Don't worry; I'll be warm soon,_" she promised. _"How long are you going to stay up tonight?"_

"_Don't really know. I don't have homework or anything important to do. I might just pass out, after today…"_

_"Well, don't."_

_"Why not?"_

_"Just don't, OK?"_

Jaen paused and frowned. Through a text, he wasn't entirely sure what she was trying to say here. If she were on the phone with him, and he could hear her voice, it would be different. He had no choice but to play along and respond, _"Alright."_

"_Good!"_ she said. Then the messages stopped.

Jaen sat back in his chair, concern welling in his stomach. It faded fast as he realized just how hungry he was. He fixed up the meal and ate, burning his tongue on the hot food. Then, he went up to his room. He decided that really the only way he could stay up for any length of time was to do something, so he popped _Call of Duty: Black Ops_ into his Xbox and began to play.

He hopped from online match to online match, dealing with all manner of gamer – the ones that raged at the drop of a grenade, ones that cried when they lost, ones that just _had_ to get that perfect kill record, ones that were obviously too young to be online and playing this particular game, and even the easygoing ones that just played to play. Some were men, some were women, and some were just unidentifiable.

Jaen played laxly, not really caring too much about what happened. He died a handful of times, and sometimes he was at the top of the charts at the end of the games. Sometimes he carried the team, and sometimes he was just an assist. He called air strikes, planted grenades, and shot off at least ten people's heads.

With as much fun as he was having, he was able to note that it was because no one was talking about digimon. No one. No one expressed their concerns over anything the digimon were doing – as if they didn't seem to care once they picked up the controller and began playing. That or they didn't want the talk to ruin the game. People insulted other people's mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, and even their pets – but no one spoke of digimon.

Jaen found this both good and bad – for reasons he couldn't quite explain. It had been three weeks – were people already accepting this as if it were something that had been going on all their lives? Or were they becoming so absorbed into the game that it didn't matter? The Seven had so far done nothing but sit atop their monuments and watch the world while other digimon fled from their homes and sought new ones here. Did video games really make some people forget about that sort of thing so quickly? Or were they just taking out their anguish about the situation on the in-game enemies? Jaen didn't know – he wasn't the type of person to overanalyze a situation.

He just found it really weird.

Jaen continued paying for about four hours – it was nearly midnight when his eyes ached and his thumbs were sore. He decided to stop and find something else to do. His mother was home and asleep, so he snuck past her and into the bathroom. He took a shower and then walked back up to his room in his towel, unsure of what he was supposed to be staying up so late for.

He checked his phone – no messages from Aimi. He took off his towel and found some underwear. He began putting them on. Just as he slid the waistband up to its proper place, something hit his second-story window with a solid _thunk_.

Jaen walked over to his window and opened it, looking out. He wondered if a bird had been silly enough to smack its face against his window, but he eliminated that option almost immediately. What bird would fly about in the middle of the night?

He scanned his driveway and suddenly found the culprit.

Aimi Tano stood, dressed in a dark-red hooded sweater and dark brown pants, in his driveway, a pile of rocks in her hand. She smiled at him and waved. He didn't wave back.

"What're you doing, Aimi?!" he demanded.

"Let me in!" she shot back, as quietly as she could. She pointed towards the back of the house, indicating the back door.

Jaen groaned and left the window. He found some sweatpants and a white shirt and then went downstairs to the back door of his house. He opened it, finding Aimi standing there. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly.

Again, when she pulled away, Jaen asked, "What're you doing, Aimi?!" He stared at her, dumbstruck.

"What,"Aimi began innocently, "not excited to see me?"

"It's being obscured by worry and concern," Jaen admitted.

Aimi rolled her eyes and then put her hands on her hips. She told him, "Well, isn't it obvious? You went through all the trouble to sneak out and see me and then you got into trouble. So, I came to see you instead!"

"If you're caught you'll end up in more trouble!" Jaen insisted to her. "That's why _I_ was the one who was doing the sneaking!"

Aimi gave him a kiss on the cheek and said smugly, "Don't you worry about me. I can take care of myself, Jaen."

"Aimi, I miss you so much," Jaen told her, touching her arms.

"I miss you, too," Aimi murmured, sadness in her eyes.

"But I can't let you get into trouble like this. It isn't the answer," Jaen pointed out.

"What, you think I can't handle it?" Aimi snapped back. "Just because I'm a girl?"

"No – not at all!" Jaen insisted. He stepped away from her and held up his hands as a sign of peace. "I would rather that I get into trouble over this than you. Your parents are a hell of a lot stricter than mine. Your dad would _kill_ you if he found out about this!"

"That's why he won't!" Aimi pointed out. "I made sure no one saw or heard me when I left the house. I wasn't followed, and I didn't run into any digimon! I used the same shortcut you did."

"And I got caught by the police!" Jaen reminded her. "Aimi, if you get caught you'll be in trouble. It wasn't fun spending the night in the police station. I don't intend to have you experience that, too."

Aimi frowned. "Fine," she said quietly, sadly, "I'll go."

"Aimi… I didn't mean it like that…" Jaen breathed. He took her arm and told her, "I don't doubt that you can take care of yourself – I've seen what you've done to guys who don't know their place with you. But I, personally, don't want to see you sneaking around like this. You're better than that."

"And you're not?"

"I'm not an honor student," Jaen told her, "with her whole life ahead of her to go into whatever career she sees fit and innovate it while she's at it. I'm a baseball player with bad grades and baseball is probably my only shot at going anywhere in my life. I also happen to have the most amazing girlfriend ever, in my humble opinion… and I'm not eager to see a blemish on that perfect record of hers."

Aimi turned to him with a smirk. "You can be terribly sweet when you mean to, Jaen," she decided. She leaned in and kissed him on the lips, long and sweet. Jaen held her close, letting her decide when to pull away from him. When she did, she tapped his nose and said, "Fine; I'm off. But I think I'm abandoning my friends at lunch for a while so I can see that adorable face of yours more often."

Jaen smiled at the compliment. He tugged at her hood and then threw it up over her head. "It might be springtime, but it can be chilly out there," he told her.

Aimi pulled the hood over her face a little more and then said, "Thanks, baby." She kissed his nose and said, "Bye; I'll call you tomorrow, all right?"

"Bye," Jaen said, regretfully. He wanted to tell her to stay, but his mother would be horrifically furious in the morning if she did, and her father would probably pull out that shotgun he'd been keeping up just for the purpose of pumping him full of lead.

Aimi left and Jaen shut and locked the door behind her. He quickly and quietly followed her, looking through the windows of his house that looked out at the driveway. He watched the red hooded sweater that she was wearing bob up and down as she walked carefully out towards the street. She looked both ways before heading down the sidewalk.

Worry festered in him. He opened the front door just a peek so that he could watch her walk down the street. She walked unmolested down the road in the dark and then turned a corner. He breathed a sigh, but relief wouldn't come until he got that call from her tomorrow. Now he was unsure if he would be able to sleep tonight.

Just as he turned to go back inside, a shrill sound pierced his ears. His heart dropped into his stomach as he looked outside in time to see a long-limbed beast wreathed in shadow take to the skies. In its claws was a humanoid shape in a red hooded sweater.

"Aimi…" he whispered, his heart pounding.

The creature let out another _shriek_ and pushed through the gloomy nighttime clouds and up beyond Jaen's sight, taking Aimi with it.

"No," he mumbled.

It all seemed to happen quite quickly after that. He was suddenly on the phone with Hamlet. He had to call three times before Hamlet woke up and answered groggily, "Huh…?"

"Good, you're awake," Jaen stated breathlessly. He couldn't seem to breathe properly. "Stay that way."

"Huh…?" Hamlet repeated just as groggily as before.

Jaen hung up and stole quietly into his mother's room. Her coat was hanging up on the back of the door. He slipped his hand inside and his fingers brushed against keys. He picked them out – fortunately, they had been the keys he was looking for.

Feeling in a daze, he put on some shoes and walked out of the house. He entered his car, put the key into the ignition, and then pushed the gas. He was out of his driveway ten minutes after seeing the digimon carrying away Aimi.

He turned a few corners and went down a few other streets until he came to Hamlet's house. Hamlet came out in just as much of a daze as he had been in when on the phone. Jaen left the car running and grabbed his friend by the arm, pulling him into the passenger's side of the car.

"Huh… Jaen…?" Hamlet began, a little more awake than before, "Wha's happening?"

"Aimi," Jaen replied shortly, driving off.

"Aimi…? Why? What…?"

"Aimi," was all Jaen could seem to say.

He sped off around the corner. He had no idea what he was planning on doing, but it was all he could do to keep from breaking over the speed limit. He had no plan, no goal, and had honestly no idea what he was doing in his car right now. It felt like one of those weird out-of-body experiences that people talked about.

Jaen came back into focus the moment his car collided head-on into one of the long-armed, hunch-backed, demonic-looking digimon that constantly patrolled the streets at night. Jaen had looked up at the creature just before the collision, locking eyes with it as it raised its head to stare at him with four bright, beady red eyes. Somewhere around him he could hear Hamlet shouting for him to slam on the breaks, or to turn, or to do something… but Jaen couldn't seem to hear him… or move, for that matter.

His motor skills returned to him, ironically enough, the moment that the airbags deployed. His hit him smack in the face, and then everything went black.


	5. Episode 4

**Episode 4: Prisoners of Interest**

The first thing Jaen felt when he woke up was a throbbing, hot, aching pain centralized at his nose and emanating outward from there to encompass his whole face. To put things frankly, he felt like he'd been kicked in the face by someone who had been wearing heavy-duty military-grade boots. The second thing he felt was his face smashed up against a surface that seemed both soft and hard, but rough to the touch.

Just about every part of Jaen's face and body ached – did I mention that his face hurt? Because it did. Quite a lot. That's what happens when you take an airbag to the face. Marginally better than being thrust out of the windshield, but it still hurt.

"Uhnnn…" Jaen moaned. He sounded like the undead rising from the grave, to be honest. He felt like someone who had just crawled out of a rather deep hole.

"Jaen?" someone asked. "Jaen, are you finally waking up?"

Jaen responded by moaning and trying to move his body. It hurt to do so, but he knew he had to at least look like he was alive. Whomever was with him now obviously cared about that much, at least.

"Jaen, listen to me. You need to wake up, man," the voice insisted. "Open your eyes, or something."

"H-Ham…?" Jaen moaned, recognizing the voice. He forced his eyes to open, not caring about how it hurt to move anything attached to his face. They came into focus a few seconds later and he saw the sandy-haired face of his friend Hamlet looking at him with concern.

"Good," Hamlet decided. "You're coherent. I was worried you might get amnesia or something." He waved his hand in front of Jaen's face, and Jaen did his best to follow it with his eyes. He was slow and sluggish to respond, but his body was beginning its slow recovery.

"W-Where… are we…?" Jaen wondered sluggishly, his eyes finally taking in the room around them. It was a small, perfectly squared room made of cement. There was a toilet shoved in one corner and what appeared to be some sort of sink right next to it. Straining, Jaen realized that he was sitting on a bed or a covered bench of some kind. Looking straight ahead, he found that one wall of their newfound home was made of iron bars.

"Prison," Hamlet explained dryly. Jaen frowned and decided his mind was slow – of course he was in a prison cell! He had seen them before, with his mother. The pain in his face made it hard to recall. "The digimon apparently picked us up after you crashed into one of them and took us here."

"S-Sorry…" Jaen managed. He did his best to try and sit up. "I… Aimi…"

"Hey, I get it," Hamlet decided, putting up his hands. "I'm not even that mad at you – I just don't know what's going on anymore."

"One of 'em… they took Aimi," Jaen explained wearily. He moved his head and dizziness took hold. He collapsed back onto the bed, his ears ringing and his head pounding like an abused drum. He groaned and felt like he was going to throw up.

"Get some rest, man," Hamlet told him. "Now that I know you're alive… Thankfully nothing was too seriously broken… your car is another story."

Jaen groaned at the thought of his car. He didn't want to know the state that the accident had left it in. Hamlet patted him gently on the shoulder and told him, "Just relax, Jaen. It's almost morning; we'll be out of here in no time."

* * *

When he woke up next, he found himself feeling a bit better than he had before, though the lack of a headache wasn't much of an improvement. He managed to push himself up this time, using his arms to hold himself upright, and he was able to get a better look around. Overall, nothing seemed to have changed from when he'd last looked around the place – but now he could focus enough to look through the iron bars before him and glimpse some of the other cells.

The one directly across from them had two digimon inside. Jaen found himself staring at the two creatures – neither was much bigger than a child about to head into elementary school. One sat in the corner of their cell, seemingly meditating. He wore what appeared to be kendo gear, with a men mask on his face that only allowed two glowing yellow eyes to shine through. His sleeves were unusually long and covered his hands, but the lower half of his body was reptilian, with purple skin, clawed toes, and a tail.

Jaen glanced at the other digimon in the cell. This one was sitting on the bunk, and he was much easier to identify. He looked like a dragon of some kind that stood on two feet, with dark purple scales and yellow markings on his face. His claws looked like drills, almost, and fins extended from his forearms. He looked tough and strong, almost pudgy, but his amber yellow eyes seemed sad.

"You woke up again," Hamlet decided. Jaen looked at his friend, who had been sitting on the floor. The boy looked tired, as if he had been awake for a long period of time without any sleep.

"What time is it?" Jaen wondered. He pushed himself to sit normally, his head spinning a little. He waited until it stopped before he looked back at Hamlet, waiting for the answer.

"Past morning," Hamlet told him with a frown.

"But…"

"Yeah, I know," Hamlet said, sighing. "I don't think they're going to let us out, Jaen."

Jaen frowned. "But they have to," he reasoned. "That's what they agreed to!"

He must have been speaking a little too loudly, because the purple dragon digimon across from him snorted loudly. A plume of red flame came from his nostrils as he looked up at Jaen through the bars of his cell. "You guys must be idiots to believe anything Lucemon promised," he reasoned, his voice rough and surprisingly childish.

"How long have you guys been in here?" Hamlet wondered.

The dragon hopped off of the bunk in his cell and walked towards his bars. He leaned against them and replied, "I've been in here for two weeks. My cell mate here has been around since this place turned into a prison for digimon."

"What's going on?" Jaen wondered, his voice straining. "Why is Lucemon imprisoning his own kind?"

The dragon frowned, and then he said, "It's not Lucemon doing the imprisoning. Darkdramon runs this prison."

"Darkdramon?" Hamlet repeated. "Who's that?"

"A powerful Mega-level digimon, and one of Lucemon's generals," the dragon answered. "In our world, Darkdramon was the one leading the Seven's army against the Royal Knights to keep them from defending the Yggdrasil Tree."

Jaen's head was spinning, and not from recently participating in a head-on collision. He tried to wrap his head around all of what the dragon digimon had said in just one sentence, but it seemed to make his headache worse. Hamlet didn't looked to be taking the news any better.

The dragon sighed, and then said, "Mega-level digimon are some of the most powerful digimon in our world. They can basically destroy just about anything, other than other Mega-level digimon. The Royal Knights are a group of powerful digimon who seek to protect the Digital World and the Yggdrasil Tree… which is the center of our world and the home of Yggdrasil, our God."

"That helps," Hamlet admitted. "But we're still pretty confused."

The dragon shrugged. "Anyway," he began again, "Darkdramon led the Seven's army against the Royal Knights and they won. The Royal Knights got turned to stone and anyone who participated in the fighting on their side got captured and imprisoned here – which is why my cell mate here has been in this place for so long."

"So, why are _you_ here, if you're not a prisoner of war?" Jaen wondered.

"I punched a Devidramon in the face," the dragon replied. "They tried paralyzing me and I punched them. I got put in here for resisting arrest. Why are _you_ guys here? Humans don't often come into this prison…"

"Jaen here saw his girlfriend being carried off by one of those flying bat digimon and decided to kidnap me and go after her," Hamlet replied frankly. "We ended up crashing the car against one of those things."

"Devidramon are kind of touchy," the dragon decided. "They like their new authority and they don't like it to be challenged… even though they're still no different than they were before – just Darkdramon and the Seven's underlings."

"I'm Jaen Tsuchikawara," Jaen began. He gestured to Hamlet and said, "This is Hamlet Malderess."

"Monodramon," the dragon replied. He nodded to the kendo-clad digimon in the corner and said, "That's Kotemon. He doesn't say much."

"So… humans don't get put in these cells often?" Hamlet asked.

Monodramon shook his head and then said, "No. But when humans do get put in here, they're here to stay for a bit. Sometimes digimon and humans are released by morning, but not if Darkdramon wants a word with you. If Darkdramon wants to see you, then you're staying here until he talks to you. Humans come out safe and sound, but digimon…" Monodramon trailed off, the sad look in his eye again.

"What happens to you guys?" Jaen wondered.

"Execution," Kotemon said finally. His voice was quiet and cool as he said that word, where others would be terrified. "They keep us here to be executed."

"_What?"_ Hamlet breathed. "That's nuts!"

"He's right," Monodramon said, sighing. "We're gonna be destroyed when Darkdramon gets hold of us." He touched the bars of his cell and frowned, saying, "The Seven promised not to harm humans… but they didn't promise not to harm digimon."

Jaen stared at Monodramon, feeling a pit growing in his stomach. He felt like he was going to throw up at the thought of two digimon – as young-looking as they were – being executed like that. Humans didn't even do that to their prisoners, unless they had committed the worst crimes imaginable! It seemed downright horrible. How could they treat their own kind like that?

_The Seven obviously don't care about their own kind if they're willing to kill them,_ Jaen decided. _So why allow humans to live? What are they doing? What are they really after?_

Monodramon punched the bars of his cell and growled, "But I don't plan on becoming nothing but ashes!" When he moved his hand, Jaen noticed that the bars were dented outward considerably. He knew that the bars of a prison cell were sturdy and no human could bend them; but digimon… it came to him suddenly that they hadn't bothered to digimon-proof the prison at all!

"You want to escape?" Jaen decided, an idea forming in his mind. It was crazy… but, then again; everything was crazy right now.

Monodramon nodded. Determination blazed in his eyes, making them like yellow flames.

"You want to escape, we need to get out of here soon, and I need to find my girlfriend," Jaen realized. "Maybe we can work together?"

"Work together?" Kotemon whispered. "With humans? Do you think us mad?"

"Yes!" Monodramon replied to his companion, hope sparkling in his eyes. "I think I might just be mad enough to try it! You can even get that knife back that you love so much."

"Knife!" Kotemon seemed insulted by that. His yellow orb-eyes narrowed. "It is a sword!"

"Yeah, that," Monodramon grumbled.

"Jaen, this is nuts," Hamlet insisted. "Digimon are dangerous – they could kill us! And you don't even know if Aimi is in this building! She could have met with Darkdramon and been gone already. What'll happen if we get caught escaping?"

"I'm not staying a prisoner forever," Jaen pointed out. "And I'm not going to let these guys be killed for doing what they think is right, and I'm not going to let Aimi be stuck here if she _is_ stuck here. Come on, Ham; I can't do this without you. I got you into this mess; let me get you out." The words of the policemen who had brought him home came back to him: _"He was lucky the digimon didn't get him… Who knows what might have happened to him then."_ He had a feeling that meeting Darkdramon was something he didn't want to do.

Jaen held out his hand. Hamlet looked at him uncertainly. Then, Jaen could see all the years of trust in his eyes as Hamlet firmly grasped Jaen's hand and used it to pull himself to his feet. Jaen did the same, though slowly so that he wouldn't faint. Hamlet nodded and then said, "Fine. You don't steer me wrong _that_ often. Naota's probably worried sick about me, anyway."

"Thanks," Jaen replied. He was more than grateful for Hamlet's friendship. It had gotten him through many a tough time in school and out of school.

"So, what's the plan?" Monodramon asked.

"Can you breathe fire?" Jaen asked.

Monodramon looked at him like he was stupid. "Of _course_ I can!" the dragon growled. "What do you think I am, a blue Otamamon?"

Jaen and Hamlet looked at Monodramon, confused. Then, the dragon shook his head and then said dully, "I can breathe fire."

"Great!" Jaen declared. "When there's no one watching, burn the lock on your cell door and get out. Then you can burn ours and we can look for Aimi!"

"And perhaps free some other digimon on the way," Kotemon added. "Along with getting my sword back."

"That, too!" Jaen decided, smiling. "So, that's the plan! All we have to do is wait!"

_Why do I get the feeling that this is going to be much harder than it's depicted in movies and video games?_ Jaen thought.

* * *

Hayato wondered, "Is Hamlet all right?"

Hikaru shrugged and then said, "I have no idea. We haven't heard anything from him since Saturday. Naota thought he was hanging out with Jaen, but when we called Jaen's mother, we only found out that Jaen's gone, too."

Hayato shivered at the thought. Hikaru had met her after school, as she was on her way home, and asked if she could come over. Hayato had called her father and, under the pretense of doing homework, he had allowed it; so long as she was gone by nightfall. On the way, Hikaru told her that Hamlet and Jaen were apparently missing, and all that could be found of them was Jaen's wrecked car that had apparently just been sitting in the middle of the road.

It had set Hayato's heart racing when she'd heard about it. Hikaru said that Jaen's mother, who was the chief of police for their district, was doing everything she possibly could to find her son and Hamlet. Hikaru laid heavy suspicion on digimon, and Hayato understood her concerns. Naota, Hikaru's cousin, was apparently a nervous wreck for worrying about his boyfriend… which made Hikaru none too happy with digimon at the moment.

Hayato wanted to tell her about what had happened last weekend, on her way home from Hikaru's house – about the Devidramon, the Sistermon Noir and Blanc, and especially about Huckmon, who had come to her rescue – but it seemed like the wrong time to bring up digimon. So, Hayato instead focused on doing whatever she could to make Hikaru seem more relaxed: she told her maid to order pizza and make some ice-cream sundaes for them both, and within a few minutes into the conversation about Hamlet and Jaen's disappearance, the food arrived.

Hikaru poked at her sundae and said, "I'm worried about them… they're both baseball-brained idiots sometimes, especially Jaen. I just hope they're all right…"

"Aimi Tano was gone today, too," Hayato added quietly.

"Yeah," Hikaru recalled, sighing. "She's never missed a day of school, apparently. Not even for sickness. Jaen's mom thinks that Jaen and Hamlet's disappearance has something to do with her being gone, too. Jaen's known for doing over-the-top things for his girlfriends… and for getting Hamlet involved."

She shook her head of it and said, "There really isn't much we can do. If they were taken by digimon, though, they should have been returned home yesterday morning. Then again, it's pretty well known that when digimon take you, you're not coming back for a while…"

Hayato shivered and murmured, "I know you're worried and all, but can we stop talking about this? It's making me feel sick…"

"Right," Hikaru decided. "I shouldn't be pushing my worried on you, anyway." Instead, she pushed around her ice cream and decided to ask, "Do you just get whatever you ask for?"

"For the most part," Hayato replied. "I try not to abuse it, though."

"Damn," Hikaru decided. "That's pretty awesome, honestly."

Hayato only nodded wordlessly. To be honest, she disliked anyone waiting on her other than her personal maid, someone that she had known since she was a little girl, with her sisters shielding her from the neglect that she was facing now. The idea of being waited on hand and foot had never appealed to her, and she didn't understand it – it was mostly a novelty.

Her room was large and had a loft. This was where the girls were sitting. It was a nice loft, with a hard floor covered in plush rugs, soft chairs, a loveseat, and a small table. Surrounding them were shelves and shelves full of books – big books, small books, thin books, wide books, series, novels, fiction, non-fiction, from every level of reading and nearly every genre. Hayato often slept up here, rather than in her bed down below, carrying up her blankets and sheets and laying down on the rugs surrounded by all the books. Down below were her bed, boudoir, and a walk-in closet containing nearly all her clothes, shoes, and accessories. There was even a fireplace, but Hayato didn't like it when it was on. Her windows had a lovely view of the street outside.

Hikaru had been amazed by Hayato's room, but mostly because of all the books. Hayato had been worried that Hikaru would hate the layout, but her worries proved worthless. Hikaru seemed to really love the room, though she had stated that she preferred her own room at her house.

Ironically, the two had no homework to do. Hayato had finished hers during school and Hikaru just simply had no homework. Hayato had felt horrible about lying to her father, but Hikaru's presence had quickly made her feel better about it. It was worth lying to her father so that she could have a friend in a house where it felt as if she were totally alone, despite all the servants.

"Would you like to go outside?" Hayato wondered.

Hikaru nodded, "Sure; I'd like to see your yard again. You know, without all the people in it."

The girls stood up and prepared to go outside. As they exited the house and stepped into the manicured and polished back yard, Hikaru wondered, "Why did you have the party here, anyway? You don't like other people around you."

"My parents insisted that I socialize and make myself known amongst my peers," Hayato replied quietly. "They wanted me to be popular and well-known, like my sisters. But I dislike most everyone in my school and they don't like me. One party during my last year of school isn't going to change that."

"I'm still mad about their attitude towards what happened to you," Hikaru growled. "I still can't believe they thought that it was all right!"

"I cannot change their minds now," Hayato murmured. "It's done, and I just hope it doesn't happen again."

The backyard was warm and there was a small breeze blowing through the area. The sky was beginning to turn different colors, and there was hardly a cloud in it. The backyard was mostly bare, except for a few trees and a fountain that glowed different colors at night. It had been a hit at the party, but her parents were furious that several people had apparently urinated in it. Still, the water was clean and fresh and drinkable now and Hayato stooped to take a mouthful.

"This whole area is fenced in?" Hikaru asked.

Hayato nodded. Wiping her mouth, she added, "Except that area." She pointed to one corner of the yard, where vines and plants had overtaken the fencing. Her parents were planning on taking it down and replacing the fence, but Hayato had begged and pleaded for it to be kept. It took some insistence from her sisters over the phone for Hayato to keep the place where she had read books outside when she was little – it stood as another example of her parents' ignorance to their daughter's wishes and interests. "That fence got broken by vines from next door years ago, so the plant started filtering in."

"Your closest neighbor is, like, two kilometers away!" Hikaru said in amazement.

Hayato nodded and then said, "My parents dislike overly large yards. My father calls our neighbor a freak for having such a large yard."

"Your parents are freaks," Hikaru decided ironically.

Hayato chuckled at that and then said, "They're not freaks… but they _are_ very particular… about everything."

She looked to her outdoor reading area and smiled fondly at it, remembering all the times that she had read books, good and bad, with those vines around her. She remembered her sisters around her, teaching her how to read when she was a child, how comforting it felt to be outside, away from her family. She took a deep breath and smiled.

And then Huckmon burst out of the vines, tumbling over and over until he halted at her feet. Hayato, surprisingly, didn't even scream. She just stared at Huckmon, her eyes as wide as they could possibly get – they hurt, they were so wide. Hikaru let out a gasp at the sight of him, and Hayato didn't want to see the look on her friend's face regarding his presence.

"H-Huckmon…" Hayato breathed. "What… What're you doing here?!"

"He was supposed to be hiding," someone complained. Noir suddenly appeared, floating over the fence and landing in the Hinahana's backyard. Blanc looked over the edge of the fence, her eyes wide. Noir kicked Huckmon, laughed, and then said, "He failed."

Huckmon shook himself off and then said, "Stop it, Noir – I slipped, that's all." He stood on all fours, shook off the debris from his armor-like pelt, and then looked up at Hayato and said, "Hey, Hayato – how're you doing?"

Hayato opened her mouth, but all that came out was a sigh as she fainted before them.

* * *

"OK – _now!"_ Kotemon whispered. He had been watching the Devidramon as they patrolled the hallways of the prison, waiting for a time when they could make their escape. Monodramon nodded and opened his mouth, allowing flames to spread forth. They burned the lock of their door white-hot before turning it into a pile of molten steel. Kotemon quietly pulled the door inward, and the two digimon were free.

Jaen and Hamlet moved back as Monodramon burned their lock, too, and Kotemon let them out. Jaen wasn't sure if his wooziness was from the car accident or from nervousness, but he didn't have time to figure that out. He and Hamlet stepped out of their cells.

"Remember," Kotemon said quietly, "if we are seen, do not look into the Devidramon's eyes. Their gaze paralyzes you. Keep running, no matter what happens."

Jaen nodded, and Hamlet grunted in agreement. Jaen recalled that the last thing he remembered was staring into the eyes of a Devidramon – that was probably why he wasn't able to stop the car in time. Jaen shook his head of it and held his hand out to Monodramon. "Thanks," he said, gratitude in his voice.

Monodramon pushed his hand away. As soon as their skin made contact, a shock passed through Jaen's body. Something like fire filled him up and melted his nervousness and weakness. He felt strong enough to go on as Monodramon grunted, "Don't thank us until we're out of here. Kotemon, do you know where they're keeping your sword?"

Kotemon nodded. "Follow me," the kendo digimon ordered quietly. Silently he moved to the head of their pack while Monodramon took up the rear, leaving Hamlet and Jaen in the middle. Kotemon led the way down the hall to a fork in the paths, and then took a left.

They traveled down this hallway, filled with empty cells, for a time. It seemed like forever before they came to a utility closet. Kotemon snorted and kicked the door in, sending splinters everywhere. Inside he went, and then he returned with a small blade in his hands. It was an unremarkable looking sword, looking a bit more like a knife in Kotemon's hands, but Jaen and Hamlet felt as if it could cut through anything.

"Evlavios," Kotemon recalled, touching the blade. "All right; let's keep moving."

"What now?" Jaen wondered.

"We free your girlfriend, and then the other digimon!" Monodramon announced. "Follow me – hurry!"

The pudgy purple dragon led the way back down the hallways until the cells were beginning to become populated. At least two or three digimon of all shapes and sizes were packed into the cells, and they stopped to free all of them. Monodramon burned the doors of one side of the hall while Kotemon sliced through the bars with Evlavios like a knife through butter. One by one, the digimon were freed – and they followed the four of them in a crowd as they made their way out of the prison.

It was risky business, and Hamlet and Jaen kept an eye out for the Devidramon while the other digimon freed one another. The hallways began getting crowded with all the digimon, and most were already making a break for it. Jaen was nervous about that – he was sure they could handle themselves, but the little digimon were the risk here. They seemed like they were infants or children, almost.

"Just a few more," Monodramon declared happily. "Down here!"

He led the way down another hallway, this one less full than the others. There were only two occupied cells – one, a larger cell, held a golden Pegasus digimon, wearing golden armor over his face and hooves. Monodramon freed him, and he let out a _whinny_ of gratitude.

"Jaen!" someone called. "Jaen, is that you?!"

Jaen turned to the other cell to find Aimi staring through the bars. Her eyes were wide as plates and she held the bars tightly. Beside her floated a little digimon that looked like a cross between a jellyfish and a ghost. Jaen wrapped his hands over Aimi's and kissed her on the forehead. "Yeah," he assured her, "it's me!"

"What… what're you doing here?!" she demanded. "How did you get here…?"

"No time for that," Jaen told her hurriedly. "We need to get out of here! Stand back!"

She obeyed as Monodramon breathed fire all over the bars of her cell. When he was done, Aimi didn't move, fear keeping her still. The little digimon giggled and floated through the hold Monodramon had made. He looked back to Aimi and said, "Come on, Mama! It's fun!"

"_Mama?"_ Jaen asked.

"I'll explain later," Aimi said breathlessly. "Long story short, he sort of got attached to me and now he thinks I'm his mom."

"Cute," Jaen decided. He held out his hand for her, and she took it. He guided her through the melted hole and out the other side, where he promptly wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. He could have cried at that moment, if he knew it would be appropriate.

"Jaen – let's go!" Hamlet insisted. "We need to be _gone!"_

"R-Right!" Jaen stammered. He took Aimi's hand in his and said, "We're breaking out of here!"

"Yay, yay!" the little jelly digimon cheered, spinning in circles.

Aimi took the digimon into her arms and said, "Hush now, Poyomon; we don't want anyone hearing us…"

They followed the crowd of digimon as they made their way down to the first floor of the prison. It was quiet, and there seemed to be no one present to watch the doors. Still, some of the digimon weren't small enough for the doors, so one of the larger digimon raised their hand and punched a hole through the solid concrete wall. Cool springtime air penetrated the stuffy heat of the prison and the digimon began filtering out, cheering and rejoicing and shouting Hamlet and Jaen's names. One of the digimon remained, as if he couldn't seem to find the courage to leave – the Pegasus digimon.

"Wow! We did it," Monodramon breathed.

"Surprisingly," Kotemon mused. "But I do worry about the fact that we met with no resistance." He held Evlavios cautiously in his sleeve. "What could that possibly mean?"

"I have no idea," Hamlet admitted. "But we should get going, before resistance decides to come after us."

"Too late!" came a horrifying _hiss._

A dozen Devidramon ascended on them from seemingly nowhere, surrounding them in a tall black wall. Jaen and the others backed up towards the hole made by the digimon earlier, and Jaen covered Aimi's eyes to prevent her from getting paralyzed.

"You've caused enough trouble," one of the Devidramon snarled. "It's not worth waiting to eliminate the lot of you!"

"Let us go!" Monodramon shouted. "This isn't fair!"

The Devidramon laughed at that. One of them pointed at them and _hiss_ed, "You're coming with us!"

"Never!" the Pegasus shouted. His mane bristled, and he announced, _"Needle Rain!"_ Thousands of golden needles sprung from his mane like bullets, striking the Devidramon in various places. The piercing caused them to screech and scream in pain.

"Hurry!" the Pegasus demanded. "On my back!"

Jaen pushed Aimi onto the horse's back, Poyomon in her arms. Hamlet mounted behind Aimi, holding Kotemon in his lap. He seemed to have felt a shock like the one that Jaen had felt from touching Monodramon, but he didn't let it stop him from holding the digimon.

"Can you even carry all of us?" Hamlet wondered.

"So long as I have hope, I can carry any weight and fly for any distance," the digimon announced, stamping one of his hooves. He shouted to Jaen, "Now, you two, hurry!"

Jaen nodded and picked up Monodramon, who was not as heavy as he appeared. He pushed the digimon onto the horse's back before hopping on himself, hanging onto Hamlet's shoulders because he was right on the edge of the horse's flanks.

The digimon spread his wings and took off at an easy gallop before leaping into the air and ascending. Jaen held on tight, feeling like if he made one wrong move he would fall off. The Pegasus glided on the air, passing over houses and streets and buildings with ease despite the load on his back. People looked up from down below in awe at the sight.

A _screech_ from behind broke the spell. Jaen looked behind them to find that a Devidramon was chasing them, and gaining fast. The Pegasus seemed to notice, too, and he tried to increase his altitude and speed, but the Devidramon had the advantage of no weight on his back, and was gaining on them quickly.

Suddenly the four-eyed demon was upon them, and he grabbed Jaen by the leg, attempting to pull him off. Jaen had no choice but to turn around and kick at the creature's face and body, trying to dislodge him before he sent the Pegasus careening towards the ground and took him away.

The Devidramon_ snarl_ed and looked Jaen in the eyes, his four red eyes glowing like shiny rubies. Jaen, however, found himself not mesmerized or paralyzed by looking into his eyes. Jaen instead used this to his advantage and kicked the demon square in the eye, causing him to _shriek_ horribly and fall off. Breathing heavily, Jaen turned himself forward again as the Pegasus digimon regained his balance and they kept going, the horse's wings tilted towards safety.

* * *

"An _escape?!"_ The armored dragon snarled. "How could you let this happen?!"

The Devidramon horde shrank before him. Darkdramon snarled and fired a shot of blazing black energy into the crowd of them, turning about a fourth of the Devidramon into black-and-red Digieggs. Darkdramon snarled, _"No more escapes – _do you bleating fools understand me?"

"Y-Yes, sir," the remaining crowd assented.

"Then get out of my sight!" Darkdramon roared.

The Devidramon fled quickly, and soon Darkdramon was alone. He snarled to himself, "Lucemon will have my hide for this…" _Lucemon wanted to personally see any human that the Devidramon caught. Those two humans… the ones who orchestrated the escape… there was something different about those two… Humans do not have the strength of heart to resist the paralyzing glare of a Devidramon. Those humans were different._

_Those humans were worth killing._


	6. Episode 5

**Episode 5: A Boy and His Pegasusmon**

Hayato opened her eyes to find that Hikaru and Huckmon were looking over her. She took a deep breath and almost fainted again, but Hikaru helped her to sit up. Looking around, Hayato found herself back in her room, in her large, comfortable bed. She took another deep breath and, instead of saying something, she only let out a fearful _squeak_.

"It's all right, Hayato," Hikaru told her, putting a hand on Hayato's shoulder. "Huckmon explained everything."

"Y-You did?" Hayato stammered worriedly, looking at Huckmon. The dragon was sitting on her bed, his cape like a blanket over his body.

Huckmon nodded and nudged her with his nose. "Yeah, I did. I told her all about the night you had that run in with a Devidramon, and how I saved you!" he told her with a triumphant smile. "Isn't that great?"

Hayato took her covers and pulled them over her head. She huddled beneath them like an ostrich trying to hide from predators. She closed her eyes tightly and secretly hoped that she was just dreaming and that there wasn't a digimon in her room and that her parents wouldn't be horrid to her if they found out and and and and…

"Hayato!" Hikaru scoffed, pulling the covers clean off of the older girl. "What're you doing?"

"H-He can't stay," Hayato insisted. She huddled closer to herself and mumbled, "If Mother and Father were to see you…"

Huckmon cocked his head at Hikaru. "What's she talking about?" he asked.

Hikaru sighed and explained, "Her parents are emotionally abusive to her. Her father's a surgeon, and he's been spending all of his time since the digimon came fixing up the people who've been hurt by digimon… and her mother has been spending her time repairing all the damage done to homes and business buildings. They don't really like digimon at all."

"They'll kill you," Hayato whispered. She didn't want Huckmon to get hurt… what if she needed his help again?

"B-But! I saved you!" Huckmon said, abashed. "That has to count for something!"

Hikaru shook her head as she stroked Hayato's hair. Hikaru went on to describe what had happened to Hayato at the party, and then Hayato's parent's reaction to it. Huckmon looked stunned. Hikaru finished, "They don't really care anything about what Hayato thinks."

Huckmon sighed. Then, he stepped over to Hayato's side. He lay down beside her, nuzzling her with his nose, and then he rested his head on her side, like a dog. The feel of him near to her made Hayato feel less like fainting and more like standing. Without thinking about it, she raised one of her arms and then began petting Huckmon in the space between his horn and his ears.

"You've been following me all week, haven't you?" Hayato asked.

Huckmon nodded against her and then promised, "I'm not going to let them hurt you, Hayato."

"Why?" Hikaru wondered. "Why do you care about her so much?"

"Because she's my partner," Huckmon explained. "Before we met, I sensed that she was in trouble. I told you about all of that, though…"

"Partner?" Hikaru repeated. "What's that even mean?"

"It means that it's my job to protect her," Huckmon told her. "Digimon partner with humans so that together they can do great things. I'm going to protect her while she does those great things."

"I'm not capable of doing great things," Hayato whispered. _You want to be a writer? Please. You won't be able to make a decent enough living. Give it a few years, Hayato, and Daddy will find you a job that you'll be happy with and you can use to take care of yourself. And if you don't like that job, then Daddy will find you a husband who will take care of you and make enough money to keep you happy. Anything for Daddy's little Hayato._

The words were imprinted into her mind and, as she thought of them, she felt tears welling up in her eyes. She could see the look on her father's face from that day and remembered how she'd cowered beneath him. At the behest of her sisters, she had finally told her father about her dream… but he had glossed over it as if he were insulted by the suggestion. And he was – Hayato knew that he had been insulted by it. Hayato, his last daughter, become a writer? When her sisters were doctors and models and musicians? No.

Huckmon scoffed at her and snorted smoke. He lashed his tail and growled, "By the time I'm done with you, Hayato, you'll be a Royal Knight like me! All you need is a little help, that's all!"

"I don't want to be a knight," Hayato mumbled.

"Then you'll be able to stand up for yourself like one," Huckmon decided.

Hayato turned to look him in the eyes. They were full of determination, a feeling that she wished she had. Huckmon gave her a smile and she smiled back, patting his nose. "OK," she agreed. "I'll try."

"Awesome!" Huckmon declared, letting out a little _roar._

"_Shhh!"_ Hayato said immediately, wrapping her arms around his mouth to silence him. "Y-You can't let anyone hear you!"

She let him go and Huckmon licked his lips. Hikaru rubbed the back of her head and then said, "Well… your maid kind of already knows about him…"

"W-What?!" Hayato's voice rose so high that it cracked. Her heart began beating wildly, and the room began spinning. She threw her covers off of herself, unsure of what it was she was actually going to do, but she knew she had to do something…

"Calm down, Hayato!" Hikaru insisted, grasping Hayato by the arm, easily stopping the weaker girl from leaving. "It wasn't like we could sneak you back into the house unnoticed while you were unconscious! Huckmon and I explained everything to her – she said she wouldn't tell your parents, or any of the other servants."

Hayato's beating heart stilled. She sighed and then murmured, "Sorry. Sometimes I can't tell whether or not anyone around me is really on my side… even people I've known for my whole life. In the end, all the servants are paid by my father, not me. They don't have any reason to like me."

"That woman _loves_ you, Hayato," Hikaru insisted. "She said that she's known you since you were a baby!"

Hayato smiled and reflected, "Kiku used to play with me all the time. She started out as my babysitter when my sisters were in school but my father hired her as my personal maid. But still… I don't expect her to be able to keep this secret for long. Huckmon, you can't stay in my house."

"I understand," Huckmon told her, nuzzling her cheek with his. A spark of warmth spread throughout her body, calming her nerves. "Blanc, Noir, and I have been hiding out in a burrow I made under a tree in the lot next door to yours. It's cozy enough, even if Noir complains about being too dirty all the time. I've been secretly following you just to make sure that you're safe. Don't worry; I won't screw up again."

Hayato nodded and said, "Thanks."

"No problem," Huckmon decided. He flicked his blue tail and then said, "If you ever need me, just come through those vines in that spot you like so much. I'm not too far away from there. Or just shout; I'm never going to be too far away from you."

Hayato wrapped her arms around Huckmon. She smiled and said, "I don't really know what it means to be your partner, Huckmon, but I'll try my best."

"I know you will," Huckmon chuckled. "I know."

* * *

"So, when's our next band practice going to be?" Nikolai wondered. "Celena and Haseo have been badgering me nonstop to try and get you to spill it."

"Why couldn't they just come to me themselves?" Loaño wondered, leafing through the mail. Most of the letters were for Kidd, and there were a few University brochures for her, all begging for her to go to school there, but she ignored them. She sat down at the kitchen table to sort through the rest.

"Because you keep avoiding the question," Nikolai reminded her pointedly.

"And just how am I supposed to explain AA to them?" Loaño asked. "They'll flip out! I've got to make sure that he's as safe as possible until we figure all of this mess out with the other people who have digimon partners and stuff. I'm not risking the Human World's only hope." She stacked the mail up, tapped it on the table to even it out, and then asked, "Why are you here again, anyway?"

Nikolai shrugged. "Why not?" he replied.

"You don't _live_ here, you know," Loaño grumbled, letting the mail fall out of its stack.

Nikolai took one of the unopened letters addressed to her and then said, "Hey; you're not going through this alone, remember? Besides, I'm one of the people that AA saw in his vision – so I figure it'd be prudent to stick close to him. Besides, it's kind of boring at home. My Mum's always fretting over me." He stared at the letter and then looked at her, asking, "What does Shinigami Conglomerate want with you?"

"The same thing they've wanted since I was thirteen," Loaño replied, taking the letter away from him. It was in a simple white envelope, stamped with the seal of Shinigami Conglomerate and addressed to her. She didn't have to open it to know what was inside. "They've wanted me to work for them for ages. They keep sending me these requests."

Nikolai raised an eyebrow. "Work for Shinigami Conglomerate – Lo, that'd be like working for Nintendo! They want _you_ to make video games for them? Why haven't you taken the offer? Isn't this your dream?"

Loaño frowned. She explained, "It is, but I'm not ready for it yet. They may think I am, but I'm not ready to spend the rest of my life working for them. I've got this last year of school, and then I'll see what I think. Maybe I don't want to work for them, specifically?"

Nikolai shrugged. "All right; your decision. I think it's the opportunity of a lifetime, though," he admitted.

"I'm not really worried about getting a job right now," Loaño reminded him. "Their concern about me is nice, but it's only cosmetic. Whatever they think, I'm neither my mother nor my father; if they want me, they had better be prepared for me."

"That's true," Nikolai mused. "You're stubborn enough to drive anyone mad."

"And yet you're one of the sanest people I know," Loaño quipped.

"It's a madness of a different kind," Nikolai muttered, blushing. He coughed to clear his throat, and then he said nothing.

_Who is this Shinigami Conglomerate?_ AA asked. He was resting up in the guest room, reading a book borrowed from Loaño. It was all he had done all week, really. He was almost done with Loaño's small library. _What does it have to do with your parents?_

_Shinigami Conglomerate is a company that produces video games, kind of like Nintendo or Ubisoft. They're famous for having prodigal young programmers working on their games, and people say that's why their games are so popular,_ Loaño replied. _My father was on their legal team. He chiefly defended Shinigami Conglomerate from lawsuits against big-name companies. He's even prosecuted other companies for plagiarizing Shinigami Conglomerate's work. One of the lawsuits my father won was enough to cover the production value of a game._

_Oh, my,_ AA murmured. She could feel him gently flitting through her memories of her parents as she was speaking. She didn't like it, but there was nothing she could do to stop him. _And your mother?_

_She was an artist that got hired by Shinigami Conglomerate to do some of the development art for their games. She worked on a lot of games that are pretty popular today. I have some of her old concept sketches in my room. She loved designing different types of creatures and making the stories for them._

_I see._ AA stopped sifting through her memories. Loaño blinked and sighed, feeling her throat tighten as she thought of her parents. AA carefully edged away from her memories and told her, _I was only wondering. Thank you._

"Lo? Everything OK?" Nikolai asked.

Loaño looked up at him and nodded. "I'm fine. AA just wanted to talk about something. Nothing important."

"Alright," Nikolai sighed. He leaned forward and placed his hand on hers, offering, "You know that if there's anything you want to talk about, I'm here, all right?"

"Yeah, I know," Loaño said, her voice tight. She looked at his hand touching her, and she resisted the urge to use her other hand to touch the top of his. She wanted to badly, but something inside stopped her. _It would feel nice, though…_ she thought, mostly to herself.

Nikolai scrambled to remove his hand as Kidd burst into the house through the back door, entering the kitchen. Isamu, _bark_ing and _bark_ing, was running around his master's feet. Just when Loaño almost got dizzy from watching the creamy streak whirled around Kidd's pantlegs, Isamu shot at Nikolai. The small dog tackled Nikolai to the ground and began licking his face furiously, his curly tail wagging.

"Isamu! Off!" Loaño chastised.

"Oh – _pbbht_ – it's OK – _sppt_ – I don't mind!" Nikolai insisted, his mouth being assaulted by Isamu the instant he started to talk. Finally, Loaño saw Nikolai's and Isamu's tongues touch. Nikolai, flushing, pushed the small dog off of him and wiped the slobber from his face. _"Pleh!_ Sorry, Isamu; I don't swing that way," he commented.

"Ya stayin' fer dinner?" Kidd wondered to Nikolai.

Loaño got up from the chair to help Nikolai stand back up. Nikolai nodded and said, "I'll stay; just let me wash my mouth out first."

Kidd stepped out of the way to allow Nikolai to get to the bathroom. Isamu, still hyper, rushed into the living room. Loaño could hear him rush upstairs, probably to disturb AA. The dog had taken a liking to AA – not as much as he liked Kidd, of course, but a liking all the same.

"How was your day?" Loaño asked.

"No' good," Kidd confessed. He shrugged off his coat to reveal his muscular, scarred body. He hung his coat on the nearest chair and then went about making dinner. He found some noodles and some chicken and got out a few pots and pans before saying, "They're ridin' us pret'y 'ard 'bout e'erything. I 'ad ta go check out a prison today."

"A prison? Why?" Loaño asked.

" 'Parently there was a breakout," Kidd replied frankly. "It'was a prison for digimon, but some 'uman's got stuck inside, too. 'Parently they all escaped."

"I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing," Loaño admitted.

"It's a good thing," said AA, as he suddenly appeared in the kitchen. Isamu was in his arms, calm and restful like a sleepy puppy – a completely different dog than the one that had tackled Nikolai earlier. "It shows that humans and digimon can work together to overcome this obstacle. Who were the humans who escaped?"

"Tsuchikawara and Malderess," Kidd grunted. "Tsuchikawara's the chief officer's son – 's why I got dispatch'd ta take a gander 'bout the situation in the first place."

"Jaen and Hamlet?" Nikolai called from the bathroom. He came out, wiping his face with a towel, and went on, "They _were_ absent today… along with Aimi Tano."

"Aye, she was in 'ere too, 'parently," Kidd affirmed, putting a pot full of water on the stove. "The digimon sure didn' like 'eir prisoners escapin' though. They were kep' in the prison fer too long."

"Longer than a night?" Nikolai guessed. "But they're supposed to be released in the morning, aren't they?"

"They are," AA answered, petting Isamu leisurely. "But if the digimon or the human is of particular interest to Lucemon, they'll be kept, I imagine. The digimon in Lucemon's service are simply waiting for the tension to break so they can wreak their havoc. Lucemon and his servants have no need for rules or guidelines. They will do as they will, and woe unto those that try to stop them."

"Tha's wha' we think," Kidd agreed. "They don' give a shit 'bout us. Why shoul' they, eh?"

"Not all digimon are like that," AA reasoned.

"I know," Kidd sighed. "But i's 'ard ta tell. When I's yer job to keep people safe, an' ya got no idea wha' yer keepin' 'em safe from, yer job jus' gits a whole lot harder."

Kidd put the noodles inside the boiling water and began cooking the chicken in the pan. He began sautéing vegetables on another burner. AA put Isamu down, and the Shiba Inu plodded over to Kidd's side to beg for scraps which, of course, Kidd gave. Loaño, Nikolai, and AA went into the living room, waiting for the food to be done.

"Those humans," AA murmured, as soon as they got away from Kidd. "Jaen and Hamlet… what do they look like?"

Loaño shrugged. "Hell if I know; I don't pay attention to jocks," she grunted. She sat down on the couch and put her hands behind her head. AA sat down beside her, his tail flicking into his lap. AA began to comb his tail with his fingers.

"Well, they're both kind of muscular," Nikolai began. "Hamlet's the taller of the two; he's got blondish hair – a bit darker than Lo's. Jaen's got darker hair, kind of black. Why? Did you see them, too?"

AA nodded. He frowned, and then said, "Well… I saw people of their description. I didn't hear any names. Their faces, however, I will not forget. Though those two seem like the likeliest candidates. I'll have to see them with their partners… though, I _do_ sense new bonds between human and digimon being formed… and I know that more will be formed before this is over. I cannot be absolutely sure."

"Well, the sooner we all get together, the sooner we can stop this mess," Loaño sighed. "The sooner that happens, the sooner we can go on with our lives. It won't ever be like it was before, but at least we won't have to worry if the next day is our last as a race."

"Prudent point, little one," AA decided. "I -" He stopped suddenly.

"What?" Loaño asked.

"_Ssh!"_ AA insisted. He closed his eyes and Loaño and Nikolai watched as his ears began moving back and forth. Loaño tried her hardest to listen, but she could hear nothing – and Nikolai seemed to be straining, too.

"Something's happening," Nikolai decided finally, a stern look on his face.

"Very true," AA agreed, opening his eyes.

"Hey, I can't hear anything!" Loaño growled, "And I have better hearing than you, Nikki!"

Nikolai went to the nearest window and pulled up the shades, exposing the street before them. Loaño and AA got up to look outside, too. It was almost sunset, the shadows of houses and cars and poles lengthening. It was what was in the street that intrigued them, though.

It was a digimon that was modeled after a Pegasus, though with queerly orange skin and bat-wing-shaped ears. Its hooves, chest, and face were covered in golden armor, and its golden mane spilled forth from its helmet in a messy heap. Its tail was long and elegant and touched the ground. Its wings were golden and feathered and hung limp at its sides. Pure blue eyes peered through the eye-holes in the helmet it was wearing.

The Pegasus turned and stamped its hooves against the pavement as three of the demon digimon seen prowling the streets and skies hovered around it, surrounding the winged beast. Their eyes were red with malice and hate, but the Pegasus refused to meet them.

"What are they doing?" Loaño wondered. "They never attack anyone in broad daylight!"

"Times are changing, and they're changing quickly," AA decided.

"We've got to do something," Nikolai declared. "They're going to kill him!"

Loaño looked over at his face and, seeing his expression, she understood. AA looked to her, and when she looked to him she saw that he, too, understood. They nodded to one another, a plan forming in both their minds.

"We'll distract them," Loaño decided. "You get that digimon out of here. Get it somewhere safe."

Nikolai nodded. Loaño and AA opened the front door, and she thought, _You sure about this? How is your shoulder feeling?_

_I feel much better,_ AA told her. _I have been idle for too long, little one. I will not stand by while an innocent digimon is harmed._

_Then let's do this._

They stepped out into the street. Loaño cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, "Hey! Assholes! Why don't you pick on someone your own size?!"

It didn't seem to faze them. The three Devidramon were closing in on the Pegasus, and their eyes were hungry for destruction. Loaño swore, picked up a stone from the ground, and gave it a toss.

The stone hit one of the Devidramon square on the head. There was a pause, and then the Devidramon slowly turned his head to glare at Loaño. She, however, stood unparalyzed by his gaze, her strong will and strength of heart fighting it back. Loaño clenched her fists as the other two turned their gaze on her. They began drifting her way, not noticing Nikolai slipping out of the house behind her.

_Leave this to me, little one,_ AA told her. He stepped in front of her.

The three Devidramon drew back in shock, their combined twelve red eyes widening on their narrow faces. "AncientAnubismon!" they _hiss_ed together.

"Yes, yes," AA said, calm as ever. "That's me."

The three Devidramon looked at one another, confused. Then, the one in the lead declared, "You're coming with us!"

"I'd like to see that happen," AA replied frankly.

"Get him!" one Devidramon _roar_ed.

They descended upon AA much more quickly than Loaño thought they could – yet she wasn't afraid. AA merely held out one hand and stated, _"Shattering Light!"_

From the palm of his hand came three spears of light that sliced straight through the three Devidramon before they could even realize what had happened. They _wail_ed mournfully as their bodies disintegrated from around them. All that was left of them were three black and red eggs that landed lightly on the front lawn.

AA touched his palm and grimaced. "I'm still not back to my full strength," he admitted, disappointment in his tone. "But that worked well enough."

_Not up to your full strength?!_ Loaño exclaimed inwardly. _You took them out in one hit! Hell, if you want to get technical, a third of a hit!_

AA gave her a smile and then pointed behind them. Loaño looked to find that Nikolai was leading the Pegasus digimon into the backyard.

"I'll explain to Kidd about what has happened," AA decided. "Go and see what you can do to make Pegasusmon comfortable for now."

Loaño nodded and set off for the back of the house in time to see Nikolai holding open the garage door for Pegasusmon. The digimon trotted into the garage, and Nikolai held the door open for her as she went in as well. He closed it behind them, shrouding the building in shadows.

* * *

"Thank you," Pegasusmon said, for about the fifth time. "I didn't want to go back to that prison. I wouldn't have ever come back."

Nikolai spread a blanket over the horse digimon's back. Pegasusmon looked at Nikolai thankfully and knelt down. They had tried to make the cement floor of Kidd's garage seem as comfortable as possible by dragging out a spare mattress for Pegasusmon to lie on. It seemed to help. They had gotten a bowl full of water and brought him some of the dinner that Kidd had made.

It was just the three of them and Isamu in the garage at the moment. Kidd and AA were hiding the Digieggs of the Devidramon somewhere safe and would be back soon. Isamu seemed interested in Pegasusmon until he caught a glimpse of his eyes – upon looking into them, Isamu _bark_ed and fled to Loaño's side, where he would stay until Kidd returned.

"You're from the prison?" Nikolai wondered, adjusting the blanket on the horse's back so that it covered his wings. "The one where that breakout happened?"

Pegasusmon nodded. "Two humans rallied us digimon and we broke out. I had them and a few other digimon on my back, but I guess I was still being followed even after I dropped the humans off at their homes. I hope they're all right. I left the digimon who started the breakout with them. I was on my way to somewhere safe, but I realized that I was being followed. I had to land, or else risk being shot down from the sky. I hope the other digimon that made it out weren't pursued. Thank you for helping me. I didn't expect AncientAnubismon to be in the home of a human! What fortune!"

Nikolai rubbed Pegasusmon on the neck and said, "Well, we're glad to have helped."

"My wings feel strong again," Pegasusmon decided. "When I saw you, I felt as if I could have flown for eternity. Hope gives them lift once more. What is your name, human?"

"I'm Nikolai Miles," Nikolai replied. "This is Loaño Ishida. She's AA's partner."

Pegasusmon bristled, looking at Loaño. "You? His… partner… I see. That explains why you refer to him so informally." He shifted in his bedding and then bowed his head to Loaño. "I'm honored to meet you."

"Cut it out," Loaño decided, waving her hand to him. "I don't need that sort of stuff. Right now we need to figure a few things out – one, what was that prison for; two, why they weren't releasing people or digimon; and three, what to do with you."

"I can answer all but the third, I'm afraid," Pegasusmon offered. "My apologies; but I don't wish to be a burden."

"You can stay with me," Nikolai blurted. He covered his mouth instantly afterward, as if he were shocked that he had said it.

Loaño looked at him in shock. "Nikki, your mom would kill you!" she reminded him.

"I know, but he can't stay in Kidd's garage forever!" Nikolai said, removing his hand. "Besides, Lo; he's my partner! I can feel it. I have to do _something_ to help him! I can make Mum understand!"

"My partner…" Pegasusmon repeated. He looked up and Nikolai and decided, "Yes, I feel it too. How fortunate! But I still don't want to be a burden to you, or your mother."

"It'll be fine," Nikolai insisted, both to him and to Loaño. "I can convince my Mum to let him stay. If he goes out there, he'll get massacred!"

"Nikolai has a good point," said AA, as he slipped into the garage. Isamu _bark_ed happily as Kidd stepped in as well, bringing the door back down. Isamu was at Kidd's side in an instant, and AA's bare feet made no sound as he padded towards Nikolai and Pegasusmon. "He'll be able to explain the situation to his mother."

"Yeah, but what is your mom going to do with that information?" Loaño wondered. "No offense, but she's a reporter, Nikki. What if she turns around and writes to the world that AA is _here?_ He won't be able to defend himself then."

"Mum would never do that!" Nikolai assured her. "Trust me, Lo; I'll make sure that you and AA are safe."

Kidd wiped his hands on his coat and then grunted, "Speakin' of, ya said 'at we got some questions 'at need answerin'?"

"You told him?" Loaño wondered.

"Of course," AA said, flicking his tail. "I couldn't just have Kidd come in here completely in the dark. That wouldn't be polite." He turned back to Pegasusmon and offered, "But he is right. About the prison… I would really like to know the digimon who were kept there, and especially who was overseeing the operation."

"Well, I can tell you for certain that Darkdramon was the one running the show," Pegasusmon replied, his blue eyes narrowing behind his helmet.

"Darkdramon…" AA repeated. "Interesting."

"Who's tha'?" Kidd wondered.

"In a moment," AA told him. "What about the prisoners?"

"Mostly prisoners of war," Pegasusmon explained. "Ones that could be captured, anyway. They were set to be executed at an undetermined time. The rest were digimon who just so happened to piss off Devidramon in one way or another, or digimon who had been captured at night. There were only three humans – two of which incited the riot to save the third."

"That would be Jaen and Hamlet," Nikolai offered. "Aimi being the one saved."

"Were there digimon with them?" AA wondered. "Ones who stuck very close to Jaen and Hamlet, even if they didn't realize it?"

Pegasusmon nodded, his mane shifting back and forth. "A Monodramon and a Kotemon. The Kotemon for sure was a prisoner of war. Those two, along with the two humans, were the ones who started everything, and they're the ones, along with the female and a Poyomon, that I returned home before I was attacked."

AA frowned. Then, it turned to a smile. "Then my worries have fled. Jaen and Hamlet, along with Monodramon and Kotemon, were the definitely the ones that I saw in my visions. We now know of two more allies that will help us defeat Lucemon and purify the Yggdrasil Tree."

"Prisoners of war?" Kidd asked, his eyes narrowed. "Wha' the 'ell 'appened in the Digital World before all'a this, anyway?"

AA flattened his ears. Then, he explained, "When I awoke and told you my story, I told you that I was deceived. Lucemon lured me away from the Yggdasil Tree to fight him, but I learned soon after that the other six had gone to the Yggdrasil Tree to begin their plan. In response, I summoned the Royal Knights – a group of digimon who dedicated their lives to stopping the Demon Lords and protecting the Digital World in Yggdrasil's name. They and an army came to the Yggdrasil Tree only to find that the Demon Lords had brought an army of their own, led by a cruel digimon called Darkdramon. As I fought with my brother, the armies clashed… but it was not to be.

"The Demon Lords turned the Royal Knights to stone, and their army overwhelmed ours. I did my best to try and stop them, but it was me against an army, along with the Demon Lords… and I was weakened from my fighting with Lucemon. I was overwhelmed by them as Lucemon corrupted the Yggdrasil Tree and stole the Yggdrasil Seed. Then, he opened a rift from our world to this one. He stabbed me and took me here, and the last things I recall of that day are being dropped and then seeing the little one. The digimon who survived were captured, whilst others escaped into the Human World. I apologize; I should have done so much more…"

"We don't blame you," Pegasusmon told him, sadness in his eyes. "None of us do. When the Yggdrasil Tree began to die, so did all the life in the Digital World. We who remained had no choice but to flee here."

"But the same thing's just going to happen here, isn't it?" Loaño asked.

"Who knows," AA murmured. "If Lucemon's Yggdrasil Seed is allowed to bloom, it's very likely that what will happen to the Human World will be much, much worse."

* * *

"Thank you, again," Pegasusmon told them, flicking his tail against his flanks. "I appreciate the help… and I will fight with you when the time comes, AncientAnubismon. We will stop the Demon Lords."

AA nodded his head to Pegasusmon, and the horse bowed his great neck to him. He spread his wings and gave them an experimental flapping. He rose into the air easily, and then he landed, his wings still outstretched. "Hope fills my wings once again – come, Nikolai; I will take you home," he said.

"I've… I've never ridden a horse before," Nikolai admitted, looking a little sheepish at the thought. "At least, not since I was a little kid… and even then it was being guided. I've certainly never ridden a _flying_ horse before…"

Pegasusmon stomped a hoof down against the cement driveway. "Get on," he said. "You will not fall."

Nikolai sighed. He clambered up onto Pegasusmon's back, with a little help from Pegasusmon himself, who used his leg as a step for Nikolai, since he was taller than the average horse. Nikolai got himself settled between Pegasusmon's wings, holding onto the armor that covered the digimon's chest. Loaño watched his face go from uncertainty to confidence as he got used to riding his partner, and Pegasusmon spread his wings wide.

"I'll let you know how it goes," Nikolai promised. "Then we can think of a way to get all four of us together."

"I'm not too happy about working with a bunch of jocks, but if I don't have a choice…" Loaño sighed, looking up at him.

"Oh, come on, Lo; you don't know either of them," Nikolai chuckled. "They're great guys."

"We should get going, before nightfall," Pegasusmon insisted, tapping a hoof.

"R-Right," Nikolai replied. Some of the nervousness returned to his eyes. He looked to Loaño and told her, "See you tomorrow!"

"If your mom doesn't kill you tonight," Loaño reminded him. "I've heard of bringing home stray puppies and shit, but not a fucking Pegasus."

Nikolai laughed and then patted Pegasusmon on his neck. Pegasusmon _nicker_ed, raised his wings, and took a leap into the air. With three great flaps of his wings they were spiraling into the sky and, once they got high enough over the power lines, they began gliding towards Nikolai's house.

_There are four of us now,_ AA reminded her.

_Out of how many?_ Loaño asked.

_There were seven,_ AA told her. _Or eight. I saw an extra face, but it had no digimon accompanying it. I'm not sure how they are involved in all of this._

_So we just need to find three more people…_

_Before the Seven do,_ AA finished. _If the Seven find any of us… if any of us are to fall… all of what we need to do will be worth nothing._

_And who's going to lead this band of merry men?_ Loaño wondered.

_Why, us, of course,_ AA told her, chuckling. _Who else?_

_I was hoping for _anyone_ else,_ Loaño admitted. _I'm not a leader, AA. I prefer staying out of other people's way. I'm not cut out for leading a full-blown rebellion._

AA gave her a smile, and then said, _Oh little one… do not doubt yourself. When it comes down to it… when we are all put to the test and on the verge of failure… I know that you will be the one to stand up and say, "Fuck you; I'm still here."_

_That's pretty good,_ Loaño decided. _You've known me for three weeks and you already know me pretty well. Well, if I'm going to be the leader of this mess – and I really don't want to be - then I hope I don't lead them to a place where we can't get out. Oh, AA, one more thing…_

_What?_

_Don't swear,_ Loaño told him. _It doesn't sound like you at all when you do._


	7. Episode 6

**Episode 6: Broken Strings and Little Things**

"_Jaen Tsuchikawara – just what in the hell were you thinking?!"_ Yari shouted. Jaen flinched at the sound of her voice. She was livid, her eyes full of worry, fear, doubt, and anxiety. _"Not only did you put yourself in danger, you pulled Hamlet in right alongside you! If you would have just told me in the first place I would have gathered my officers and gone and gotten Aimi without causing such a huge mess! God, Jaen – have you no regard for your own safety? Does it even cross your mind when you go and do stupid shit like this?"_

She had to pause or Jaen thought she might explode. Her eyes were watering and flaming – she was bursting with relief, but it was conflicted by the anger bubbling inside of her. She looked like she wanted to reach out and wring his neck; but she didn't. Jaen wouldn't have blamed her if she did, though.

"I'm sorry," Jaen told her, his voice surprisingly normal and calm.

"Is that all that you have to say?" Yari wondered. She swallowed, as if her throat was sore, and then went on, "Jaen, I'm so glad that you're safe; but this shouldn't have happened. We are in such a delicate situation with these creatures – if we piss them off, who knows what will happen? I have a _district_ to protect. I can't always be worried about you doing something as stupid as this. What you did was brave, Jaen; but it was _so incredibly stupid."_

"Hey, he set all of us free!" Monodramon insisted. "Don't ride him so hard! We were in danger if we stayed there, anyway!"

"You three are a different matter," Yari decided, pinching the bridge of her nose. Monodramon and Kotemon looked at one another anxiously, while Poyomon snored in Aimi's arms. It was a wonder the baby digimon was staying asleep during all of this.

"Monodramon is right, though," Hamlet offered. "Kotemon and most of the other digimon in that prison were going to be executed, Officer Tsuchikawara. They were war prisoners. Monodramon was just standing up for himself in broad daylight. Even _he_ was going to get killed."

"What the digimon do to their own kind is not something we can do anything about," Yari pointed out. "We don't even know how to handle them when they end up in _our_ cells."

"Well, we weren't just going to leave them there," Jaen insisted. "I wasn't going to let them die."

"Your heart is usually always in the right place with these sorts of things, Jaen," Yari told him, sighing, "but your head isn't. Try to use it once in a while. Do you have any idea how _worried_ we were about you?"

Jaen looked to Hamlet's parents and Aimi's father, who had all come at Yari's behest to pick up their children. Pegasusmon had dropped them all off at Jaen's house, just as Yari had been coming home from patrolling the streets. She had apparently sent a detective she described as "reliable, but very wolfish" to investigate the commotion at the prison, just so she could come home and try to eat something. Jaen couldn't look at Osore Tano, mostly because he didn't want to know if he'd brought the shotgun. Caesar and Charlotte Malderess, however, looked more than grateful to have their son back, even though it was Jaen's fault that Hamlet had even been involved.

"You're not all children anymore," Yari reminded them. "You're very nearly adults. Now is not the time to start acting like children."

"Can we say our peace, now?" Jaen asked.

"What is there for you to say?" Osore growled, his fists grasping for something to strangle. Jaen imagined that he was thinking of strangling his neck. "You not only encouraged my daughter to sneak out at night, against my wishes, but you got her caught and nearly _killed._ There is no apology for that, boy."

"It was only the digimon that were going to be executed," Hamlet defended. "We would have been released eventually. Jaen put on the escape for Aimi's sake!"

"He _did,_ Father," Aimi insisted. She held Poyomon tightly and explained, "The other digimon there told me that some digimon named Darkdramon wanted to see the humans before releasing them."

"And what would this Darkdramon have done upon seeing you?" Osore wondered. "Would he have let you go, or killed you?"

"Calm down, Osore," Charlotte Malderess said, playing with a bit of her long, curly, blonde hair. "Jaen did what he did out of love for your daughter. Doesn't that mean something?"

Osore Tano looked like he was going to crush Charlotte. He was a much larger man, though stress and work had aged him. Yari laid a hand on Osore's shoulder and offered, "I'd like to keep this as much of a non-violent situation as I possibly can, Tano-sama. Please refrain from forcing me to arrest you."

"I think they've learned their lesson," Caesar decided. He was black-haired, tall, and muscular. His voice was strong. He and Charlotte were younger-looking than the other adults in the room, for reasons that Jaen didn't really know. "Though, maybe Jaen and Hamlet should go to a hospital or a clinic to get themselves checked over for any extensive damage."

"I feel fine," Jaen said tightly.

"Me, too," Hamlet assured his father. "We didn't hit the Devidramon too hard; just enough for the airbags to deploy."

"And to nearly ruin the front of Jaen's car," Yari groaned, "which he shouldn't have had."

"We should deal with the discipline in our own homes," Charlotte pointed out, "don't you think?"

"That would be wise, yes," Yari agreed. "But what to do with the digimon?"

Aimi stood up and said, cradling Poyomon, "I'm not leaving Poyomon. He needs me."

"You're not taking that thing home with us, Aimi," Osore growled. "Those digimon are nothing but trouble – they're dangerous. They're not pets. It's not coming."

Aimi narrowed her eyes, and then said, "Well… then I guess I'm not coming with you, either." Osore's eyes widened, and he paled. Aimi was shaking, but she went on, "When he was in the cell, all the Devidramon did was taunt him and tease him… not to mention the fact that he was going to _die_ if he stayed there any longer. I will _not_ abandon him, just to have him sent back to that horrible place! Not even for you, Father! He's just a _baby – _he won't survive out there on his own."

"I'm certainly not going to let Kotemon get arrested again, just for fighting to defend his home," Hamlet insisted. "Who knows what they were going to do to him before they killed him?"

"Jaen? Monodramon? What do you two think about this?" Yari wondered, her hands at her hips.

Jaen sighed, and then looked down at Monodramon. The purple dragon looked up at him with eyes full of determination, but also something else – fear. Jaen laid a hand on Monodramon's head and sensed that Monodramon didn't want to go back out there, all alone. It was strange – as if Jaen could feel it all as if they were his own feelings.

He said, "Monodramon's my friend. I won't let him go back to wandering the streets alone. He helped me and the others escape the prison – he helped me save Aimi. Without him, I wouldn't be here now. I owe him more than just throwing him out on the street again. He's my partner."

Monodramon looked blinked at Jaen and murmured, "Thanks…"

"And as for the rest of this situation…" Jaen went on, feeling a blaze of determination rise inside of him, "yeah; it was all my fault. I was sneaking over to your house all the time at night, Tano-sama. Then, when I got caught by the police, Aimi decided to do it to see me. I saw Aimi get taken by the Devidramon. I called Hamlet and then I took him. I was driving when we hit the other Devidramon. I was the one who orchestrated the plan to break out of the prison, something that could have very well gotten all six of us killed. It was my fault. If anyone here should be punished, it should be me. Not any of them."

"So you admit that you allowed Aimi to get put into danger!" Osore snapped. "I knew you were nothing but a -"

"_Father," _Aimi stressed, "he told me to go home! As soon as I got here, he told me to go home. He didn't want me getting hurt, or caught. He would rather it was him. I can't believe you still don't trust him – he's done nothing but treat me like a queen since we started dating. He's never done anything at all to hurt me… and yet you still think that that's all he thinks about!"

"I did it because I love your daughter," Jaen went on. "I did it because I would rather I be the one to stay behind and face the consequences, rather than letting Hamlet or Aimi get hurt because of me. Hamlet is my best friend – he's like my brother… and Aimi… I love her, Tano-sama. I love her more than anything. I would do anything to be with her… and I would do anything to keep her from harm."

Osore looked between the two of them, his face reddening. Finally, he said, "I have never once seen you look so serious, Jaen. Fine. I'll let this slide… but not so easily. I'll still be keeping my eye on you. Come on, Aimi."

"I'm not going without Poyomon," Aimi insisted. "Or saying good-bye to Jaen."

"Then say your good-byes and bring your friend," Osore decided. "We'll figure his situation out when we get home."

"Thank you, Father," Aimi breathed.

"We'll take that as our cue to go, too," Caesar decided. "Hamlet, bring your friend. We'll make sure he feels right at home with us."

Hamlet turned to Jaen and yawned, saying, "Well… this was quite the adventure. I think I'm going to pass out as soon as I get home. I'll see you tomorrow, Jaen." Hamlet clapped Jaen on the shoulder and added, "Thanks for getting us out of there."

"No problem," Jaen offered.

Hamlet went to his parents, and Kotemon followed him after a brief farewell to Monodramon. Then, the four of them left the house. When they were gone, Aimi approached Jaen. She kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you so much for coming after me," Aimi murmured. "And for saying what you did."

"I love you, Aimi," Jaen told her.

"I love you, too," Aimi replied. She stood on her toes and then kissed him on the lips. Jaen heard Osore grunt at the sight of it. Aimi stepped away, still holding Poyomon in her arms. Surprisingly the little digimon had stayed asleep throughout the entire conversation. Jaen patted him on the head very gently.

"Take good care of him," Jaen told her. "He does think you're his mother, after all. That's a big responsibility."

"It won't be so hard," Aimi reminded him, "after all, he does have a father."

She kissed him on the cheek again and promised, "I'll call you later," before turning around and leaving the house with her father and Poyomon.

Jaen watched her go, sighing. He was more than happy that she was safe; but he wished he could have gone with her, just to make sure that she would still remain safe when she got home. He knew that Osore wasn't abusive, but he didn't want to risk her getting hurt in any way.

"She has my number," Yari reminded him, pulling him out of his thoughts. "If she needs me, she'll call me."

"I'm sorry for all of this," Jaen repeated.

Yari responded by going up to her son and hugging him close to her. "I want to yell at you," she said, her voice breaking, "and just keep yelling… but when I saw your face… Jaen… I've never seen you look so serious in your life. And what you did wasn't as bad as you think… it allowed my people to finally be able to figure out what went on in that prison they were using. For the longest time, no one could get in, even with a warrant…"

She let him go and then looked at Monodramon. "I suppose that you deserve quite a bit of credit yourself," she said. Yari bowed at the waist to Monodramon and then said, "Thank you."

"It was nothing, really," Monodramon grunted, looking embarrassed.

Yari yawned, and then said, "You guys go and get some rest. Let me know if your head starts troubling you again. I'm going to go and check up on Kidd and see what he's found out. He's been acting very oddly lately – more oddly than he normally acts. I swear, the man's half an animal…"

* * *

"So… tell me about this band of yours," AA requested. "You've mentioned it once or twice, if I recall, and it does cross your mind now and then."

Loaño sat on her bed, crossing her legs beneath her. AA hopped onto the bed as well, his tail wagging a little when the bed bounced beneath him. As serious as he seemed most of the time, he was capable of enjoying things that were often considered "fun", almost in a child-like manner.

She shrugged and told him, "I started it around two years ago, when I got into high school. I didn't like any of the clubs that the school had, so I decided to make up my own extracurricular activity. I've been playing the guitar for years."

"And the other members of your band?" AA wondered. "Your cousin, Haseo, and Nikolai?"

"Celena's always been a good singer," Loaño admitted. "The music club always begs her to join them; but she stuck with the archery club because she likes it. I was the one who came up with the idea of starting a band, but Celena was the one who really pushed for it. She likes singing and she wanted to do it for people. We didn't recruit Haseo until Celena decided we needed other members. Of course, Celena was the one who recruited him – they've known each other since elementary school."

She could feel AA sifting lightly through her memories as he asked idly, "You didn't go to the same school as them?"

"When I was little I lived in a different part of the district. I went to a different school up until middle school. When my parents died and I moved in here with Kidd, I ended up going to their school," Loaño explained. "Haseo was always kind of quiet, so I hardly noticed him. I didn't hang out with too many people during middle school. The whole transition was…"

"I understand," AA decided. "You needn't go on about that." He wrapped his tail around her, almost protectively, though she felt sympathy in the gesture.

"Anyway," Loaño went on, "we got Haseo involved because we needed a drummer. At that point we were doing covers of other songs until Celena discovered that Haseo had been writing songs behind our backs. She – in her way – coerced him to write songs for us."

"And Nikolai? How did you come across him?" AA wondered.

"He moved here from Britain with his mother when I was in middle school," Loaño told him carefully. "He moved around from school to school until high school."

"Why so much moving?"

"It took him a while to learn Japanese," Loaño told him. "That and he tends to get himself into trouble with kids who don't like foreigners."

"I see," AA decided. "So, he was eventually placed in your high school?"

Loaño nodded. "I met him on his first day in our school. He… was in the music room. Playing piano."

"And why would you go there?"

"I sometimes borrowed the guitar in the music room to practice during school. It's the same make as mine," Loaño replied. "I was going to practice and I…"

"Came across him?" AA decided.

Loaño nodded. "Anyway, I asked him to join our band a few days later, and we got our pianist."

AA tilted his head and then commented, "You're a bit quick to sum that up, little one. Any reason why?"

Loaño glowered at him and growled, "Figure it out yourself. You're the one who can read my mind." Try as she may, even when she had the opportunity to pry into AA's mind, it seemed like an impossible task to get any worthwhile information out of him.

"Boundaries," AA reminded her. "I like respecting them. But if you don't want to tell me the details, that's fine. It's your choice. I'm simply wondering how you came to know all of these people. Though you've not known Nikolai as long as the others, he seems to be unusually important to you. Excuse my curiosity. Please, go on."

"We had all the people we needed, so we got together for practices. We got a few gigs, but they weren't anything spectacular. Our last one was the day…"

"I know," AA recalled coolly. "The day the Seven came. I remember hearing music before I fell…"

They were silent. Finally, after a moment, AA pointed to the guitar sitting in the corner of Loaño's room and asked, "May I hear you play?"

"Why?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm simply curious, is all. Do you mind?"

"Well, no," Loaño mumbled. "It's been a while since I've been able to play, because of all of this."

She got up from the bed and plucked the guitar from its stand. It was light and familiar in her hands. She slung it around her body with its strap, and it hung against her with a familiar feeling. She remembered it being much heavier and much harder to play – all the blisters on her fingers and thumbs and all the bandages she had gone through just to learn how to play. This guitar was old, but she felt that she would never have the heart to replace it.

Loaño began lightly strumming the strings, plucking at them to make a simple tune. The stringy sound of the guitar drifted through the room, causing AA's ears to twitch. The song she played was slow and simple and easy to recall. Then, without her realizing it, she began playing faster and faster, and the pace picked up, and suddenly she lost sight of the fact that she was even playing at all – it was as if she had no fingers, and someone else was playing the instrument. She could think of nothing else…

Until a string _snapp_ed and she was brought out of the trance.

"Oh," she said simply, staring at the curled, broken string. "Well, fuck."

"Oh my," AA wondered, cocking his head like a curious dog. "Was that meant to happen, little one?"

"No," Loaño replied. "Though it _has_ been a while since I've replaced the strings… Dammit. Looks like I'm going to have to do that now." She removed the guitar from her body and then sighed, setting it back on the stand. "They're bloody expensive, too."

"Where would one go to replace a string?" AA wondered. "Is there a special place here?"

"There's a music store in the city that does that sort of thing. They also sell all kinds of instruments," Loaño told him. "I'll have to go tomorrow after school. I'd rather not forget about it. I'll probably stop at Thunder Heart, too, and pick up the new Shinigami Conglomerate game that's coming out then. They're right on the same street. Won't take me too long."

AA shifted and then asked, "What is Thunder Heart?"

"A video game store," Loaño replied. "I know the owner pretty well, and I work for him from time to time. He's a nice guy. Always sells good games and gives me good deals, especially on release day. Don't worry, I won't be too long."

AA shifted again, this time looking restless. "Little one…" he began, "this may sound silly, but… may I accompany you?"

"Hm? What?" Loaño asked. "Come with me? Why? Isn't that a bad idea?"

"Well, I've been stuck inside for three weeks," he reminded her. "I'm feeling a little stir crazy. I'd also like to see just what's going on outside, in the city. I'd like to see how much damage has been done, both to humans and to digimon."

"Won't digimon recognize you, though?"

"I'm capable of hiding my ears and tail," AA told her, "and if I can borrow some clothes, I'll blend right in. Please, little one? I know it's risky, but I fear that I really must know what's happening out there. I can't stand being cooped up somewhere without knowing how my people are suffering, especially when it's my fault." His eyes grew big and puppy-like, and it reminded Loaño of how Isamu often begged for food or treats.

Loaño frowned and then said, "Fine; you can come. Just try not to draw too much attention to yourself. You can borrow some of Nikki's clothes. He's a few sizes bigger than you, but you don't want to walk around wearing _my_ clothes, do you?"

"What would be the matter with that?" AA wondered. "We are of similar width, little one."

"I know, but women's clothes on a guy, especially a skinny guy like you… something about it is strange to me," Loaño told him. "Not that I think there's anything wrong with it – but women's clothes are more… slimming. Guy's clothes are baggier and more liable to hide something. Trust me – I've seen skinny guys wearing women's clothes: it'll make you stand out. Besides, Nikolai's probably going to come with me, anyway."

"Why does he follow you around so?" AA wondered. "Is there a reason?"

"There's a reason," Loaño said, sighing. "We just don't openly speak of it."

"I get the feeling that a lot of problems could be avoided if you did," AA pointed out.

"Yeah, probably; but that's not your business, is it?" Loaño grumbled.

"I'm afraid it's not," AA agreed. "Not at the moment, anyway."

"Good, so stay out of it until it is," Loaño told him. "About tomorrow – _don't_, and I repeat, _don't_ do anything to draw attention to yourself. If you're found out, you'll be arrested and shipped off to Lucemon faster than you can talk your way out of it. If I'm caught with you, I'll be arrested for harboring a fugitive. You being caught equals big trouble – got it?"

"Understood," AA said, nodding in agreement. "I won't be caught."

"Good," Loaño decided. She sat back down on her bed and then said, "I'm sorry for snapping at you all the time."

"I understand, little one," AA told her. "There are simply things that you don't want me to know. That's all right with me. There are plenty of things in my mind that I don't want you to know."

"Like what?"

"It will all become clear in time, little one," AA promised. "Until then, I'm afraid it will remain a secret."

"Fine, fine," Loaño decided. "Have it your way." She leaned back on her bed and sighed, thinking, _Let's just hope what you're keeping a secret won't hurt us in the future…_

AA neither said nor thought anything in reply. He merely stared at her guitar, his silver eyes filled with something that Loaño couldn't identify. It seemed to be something like regret.

* * *

Kidd answered his work cell phone on the third ring. He already knew who it was – through the first two rings he had contemplated not answering at all. He knew that would be a bad idea, though; Officer Tsuchikawara was a terrible person to have pissed off at you, even if you towered over her both in height and width.

"Yo," he answered.

"Kidd, you were supposed to report in to me the moment you returned to the station," Yari said, her voice authoritative and chilled like ice chips. "However, when I called the station, the officer there told me that you had gone home immediately after returning. Why do you constantly defy me when I order you to do these little things?"

"I don' like 'at office," Kidd replied. "Too small. Too stuffy."

"Anywhere is too small and stuffy for you," Yari said, sighing. "Kidd, I make allowances for you because you're the best we've got, and you're the only man I can spare to do things like this. Now tell me straight – is there a problem in your personal life that I should know about that is affecting your career?"

"Nah," Kidd grunted, "not unless ya coun' the pup bein' a teenager an' whatnot. Ya know, bein' in love wit' a boy but bein' way too stubborn an' prideful ta tell 'im so the problem drags on an' on an' on…"

"I'll just take that as a _no,_ then," Yari decided.

"Look, wha' I foun' at the prison wasn' anythin' spectacular," Kidd told her. "The digimon were pissed off 'at the escape, but they wouldn' give me too many details on wha' actually wen' on there. 'Parently, though, there was some sort'a war in the Digital World 'fore they came 'ere. They were keepin' the digimon who fought on the good side in 'at prison, an' they were gonna kill 'em. They were gonna kill any'a the digimon in 'at prison."

"And humans?" Yari wondered. "What were they doing with humans?"

"They weren' too clear on 'at," Kidd answered. It wasn't a lie – not even Pegasusmon or AA had been able to truly answer that part. "They were keepin' 'em fer something. What did Jaen say 'bout it?"

"Actually, his girlfriend said only that the digimon who ran the prison kept the humans until he was able to meet with them," Yari replied. "Of course, they weren't there long enough to figure out why."

"Tha's a good thing," Kidd grunted. "I don' know too much 'bout wha's happenin', Officer Tsuchikawara, but I do know it ain' good. I still say searchin' fer this AncientAnubismon guy's a bum lead."

"I know," Yari said, sighing, "but it's the only lead we have. Kidd, please – if you do find him… or if you already have… try to figure out what's happening. If the wrong people find him, who knows what will happen? We have to figure out a way to stop the Seven and keep our people safe. That's our top priority."

"I know," Kidd replied. "I know. I'm doin' all I can." _Sorry; but I ain't ready to reveal 'at I got our man already. From wha' 'e told us, it's prolly better that no one figure out 'e's 'ere. 'E's got his own mission to go through with._ "Do ya wan' me to keep investigatin' the prison?"

"If you would," Yari agreed. "I'd like you to speak with the head of the prison – a digimon named Darkdramon. I'm sure he's not above speaking with you."

"I'll give it a shot," Kidd grunted.

"Remember that we're here to back you up," Yari reminded him. "You don't always need to do these sorts of things on your own. You're a valuable member of our force, Kidd."

"Aw, thanks," Kidd said, smirking.

"After that, though – and this may seem strange – I'd like you to investigate Shinigami Conglomerate for me."

"Say wha'?" Kidd asked.

"We've gotten an anonymous tip that something is off about the place," Yari explained. "Apparently this tip has come from a very reputable source, though their refusing to give their name is already a sign of their disreputability. It shouldn't be too straining – it might even be a welcome break. Just take a look and do… whatever it is that you do. It shouldn't take you too long."

"Is'at it? Ya wan' me to investiga'e an orphanage too, while yer at it?" Kidd asked sarcastically.

"Cut the crap, Kidd," Yari snapped. "I get enough sarcasm from my son. Just do it and get it done –and this time, if you really don't want to report in to the station, call me _immediately_ afterward. I don't want any delay. I don't care what I'm doing - I'll answer."

"Fine," Kidd growled. "I'll do it."

"It may be something, it may be nothing – but we need to investigate even the little things; especially now," Yari stressed. "I'll see you tomorrow."

She hung up. Kidd set down his phone and groaned, adjusting himself in his seat. Isamu looked up at him with a curious expression, his tail wagging a little. Kidd reached forward and patted Isamu on the head, his hand almost twice as large as the dog's skull.

"Well pup, looks like we got work ta do," Kidd grunted.

Isamu _bark_ed, curious.

"Involvin' digimon."

Isamu flattened his ears and _whine_d.

"Ya, well, they ain' goin' away anytime soon," Kidd reminded him. "Get used to 'em."

_But why Shinigami Conglomerate?_ Kidd thought. _If the pup's parents were still around, they woulda tol' me if somethin' was wrong there. 'Ey 'ave before._ Kidd had often gone to Shinigami Conglomerate to act as security, back when they were still alive. He recalled that the place was a fun, generally positive environment. There were only a few minor issues that he had ever had to take care of. Otherwise the company was clean.

_I guess I'll fin' out,_ Kidd sighed. He scratched Isamu under the chin and thought to himself, _I wonder if'n they'll still let dogs inside…_


	8. Episode 7

**Episode 7: Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Through Others**

"My ears hurt," AA complained, though quietly. In fact, it didn't sound much like a complaint at all; it was more like he was simply stating something.

"_Sssh,"_ Loaño insisted. She looked to her side to find AA fumbling with the hat that was hiding his wolf ears from the public. Loaño patted the hat down on his head more securely, grumbling, "Keep it on, will you?"

AA sighed and stopped fumbling with the hat. She could see movement stretching the fabric on the outside, the mark of his ears trying to flatten but failing. Loaño felt sympathy for him – a hat was really the best that they could do to hide his ears – they had tried using one of Nikolai's hooded sweaters to do the job, but his ears poked up far too prominently, and it was far too noticeable. So, they had to settle with a hat, one that had a little bit of room in it to allow his ears to wiggle, and with a low enough brow that would cover up the fact that he didn't have human ears. He wore a long-sleeved shirt over his body, hiding his wounds and slightly hiding his gloves which, for some reason, he refused to remove. They had tied a sweater around his waist by its sleeves, and his pants were far too long for his shorter legs. He outright refused to wear shoes, so a compromise was made with sandals. His long gray-silver hair was tied up in a ponytail, and yet it was nearly to his ankles.

All in all, he looked rather hilarious.

His tail, however, had been the hard part. They could find no way to hide his tail short of either sticking it down one of his pant legs (which made it look horribly distended and obvious), or using one of Kidd's trench coats to hide it with sheer length – that, however, didn't work at all, since Kidd's trench coat tail dragged the ground like the train of a wedding dress on short little AA.

AA himself had come up with the solution. He used his power to create an illusion using light. Loaño didn't understand all of AA's powers, but it worked rather well – the only condition was that AA couldn't enter deep shadows, or else the illusion would be revealed. His tail was still there – which was why they used the sweater around his waist to hide the bump where it came from his spine – but no one could see it.

People gave him strange glances when they passed by him on the sidewalk – but thankfully, there weren't too many people on the sidewalk these days. Loaño wasn't too terribly worried about people sighting him – she found that she was more worried about the digimon. If Pegasusmon was any indication, they would recognize AA instantly, and possibly call out to him. If they did, it would expose him immediately.

The few digimon that they saw didn't seem to notice him, however – they were too busy scurrying away from humans, and humans were too busy fleeing from them. Loaño didn't need to hear AA's thoughts to feel his pain when he saw this sort of thing happening. He said nothing about it until they saw a little boy trying to play with digimon that resembled a bird chick, with dark brown feathers and owl-like eyes. The boy's mother screeched, kicked at the digimon, and then dragged her son away, leaving the little digimon all alone.

_I did not want this,_ AA thought, looking at the little digimon. His ears twitched beneath his hat and he went on, _This is all my fault…_

Loaño laid a hand on his shoulder, sighing. AA adjusted his hat and then thought, _Sorry._

_No need,_ she thought back. _But let's keep going._

"Yikes," Nikolai commented, glancing at the mother. He looked back at Loaño and AA as they began walking again and then grunted, "That was a bit unnecessary, wasn't it?"

"She was probably worried it was going to bite her kid," Loaño reasoned.

"There are fierce Baby digimon," AA commented, "but they are not inherently violent. They're too young to harm anything, even a human."

"Tell that to her," Nikolai reasoned, sighing. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and then said, "Well, at least my Mum didn't freak out too badly when I brought home Pegasusmon."

"Oh?" Loaño breathed. "I forgot to ask how that all went."

Nikolai shrugged and then explained, "She had her little fit for a minute but then she ended up listening to the both of us. Don't worry, Lo; she won't tell anyone about AA."

"She'd better not," Loaño growled.

"Hey, don't get mad at me for explaining _that_ bit to her – I couldn't just _not_ premise the situation," Nikolai reminded her. "Anyway, Pegasusmon said that he'll just be following us around today. He's flying around and stuff, but he won't let himself get caught again."

"We won't be long," Loaño promised. She adjusted her grip on her guitar case – her guitar securely inside – and said, "We're almost there, anyway." She pointed ahead of them, at the music store. They had a window out front that displayed several different types of musical instruments that they had in stock. The music store wasn't exactly the go-to place in the city, but it was popular enough to stay in business thanks to the store also selling CDs from various artists.

As they closed the distance between them and the store, Loaño's phone vibrated within her pocket. She frowned and then retrieved it, finding that she had a message from Celena. Loaño gave her guitar case to Nikolai to hold. She sighed and then unlocked her phone, retrieving the message with a few quick taps.

_What's going on?_ AA asked.

Loaño read the message to herself, and then she smirked. With a devilish look on her face, she replied to her cousin in a positive manner, and then opened up a new message thread to another person.

"Who's Dominic?" Nikolai asked, glancing at her.

"Haseo's older brother," Loaño replied curtly.

"Why do you have his number?"

"Personal reasons."

Nikolai paused, and then glanced at AA. Then, he admitted, "I don't like that look on your face. What're you up to?"

"Just a little revenge; nothing too important," Loaño answered. "Don't worry about it; it's got nothing to do with you."

"I get the feeling that it does," Nikolai confessed, "but, then, I know better than to get involved in your revenge schemes."

_Revenge? Little one, I don't understand; revenge for what?_ AA wondered. Loaño rolled her eyes and then allowed him to rifle through her memories. When he had found it, AA exclaimed, _Oh! I understand. Though I don't agree with revenge, carry on._

Loaño sent the message just as they entered the music store. She put her phone back into her pocket and got her guitar case back from Nikolai. She looked to AA and said, "You can explore about if you want – I won't be too long. Nikki, keep an eye on him, will you? I don't want him breaking anything I can't afford to replace."

"He'll be fine in my hands," Nikolai promised.

Loaño approached the counter and laid her guitar case on it. The man behind the counter looked up at her and, with a small spark of recognition, he said, "You're the kid from Koukon Sabaki, right? The band that plays at that cross-dressing café sometimes?"

"Aye," Loaño replied. "I need a string."

"Well, let's see here," the man decided. He opened up her guitar case and then whistled. "Man, this is an old one. I'm pretty sure I've got strings for it, though. Hold on a second."

He turned away from the counter, leaving Loaño to lean against it, waiting. She waved her hands at AA, encouraging him to walk around the store and explore. With a twitch in his hat, AA obliged her, walking about the store, his sandals silent against the soft carpet covering the store's floor.

It was a relatively medium-sized shop, with all manners of instruments hanging on the walls – mostly guitars, violins, and the like. There were a few cellos set up in one corner, along with a grand piano in another, surrounded by other kinds of keyboards. Nikolai had apparently gotten his keyboard here, though Loaño knew he could play the grand piano without problems. If the instrument that you wanted wasn't here, the manager – the man behind the counter – would offer to order it for you. There were aisles that held sheet music, guides for various instruments, CDs, and other music-based paraphernalia.

AA took everything in as slowly as he could. He looked at the piano, but didn't seem interested in it. Loaño watched him explore the store, his mind _humm_ing to itself with its own thoughts. Loaño tilted her head slightly, trying to figure out what he was thinking about – it seemed as if he was looking for something.

The digimon came finally to the wall that held the guitars, violins, and other stringed instruments that could be hung on a wall. Nikolai followed him and stood by him as AA curiously pulled down one of the violins.

"Hey, what're you doing?" Loaño wondered. "I don't think you're supposed to do that."

AA didn't respond. He found the bow that went to the instrument, put it beneath his chin, and then began to play it.

The sound that came from the violin gave Loaño goosebumps. Even the manager of the store, who had come out of the back room with Loaño's guitar string, his mouth open to reprimand AA for taking the violin off the wall, stopped and closed his mouth, watching the digimon in awe.

"Damn," Nikolai whispered.

The song that he was playing began triggering memories in AA's mind, and when Loaño tried to reach out to him, she ended up being assaulted by them. In her mind's eye she saw AA sitting at the roots of a great tree, one bigger than any that Loaño had seen or heard of, with bark colored white and blue and green and silver and leaves all shades of the rainbow, with little digimon all around him. Beneath his chin was what appeared to be a violin, and he was playing the same song to the digimon. The little digimon watching him were silent, their eyes wide and filled with emotion. AA smiled as he played, and it seemed like the tree behind him was dancing to his tune, as if the tree enjoyed it as well.

Loaño shook her head of it and called out, "Hey! Stop it!"

AA stopped short, the last note ending in an ear-splitting _screech_. He looked up at her, his silver eyes wide.

"I… I apologize," AA said finally, putting the violin back on the wall. He placed its bow near it.

"It's… never mind," the manager decided, shaking his head. He looked to Loaño and asked, "Would you like me to put the string on?"

"No; I can do that. Thanks," Loaño said curtly.

She paid for her guitar string and the three of them left in silence.

They were outside when Loaño thought, _What was that all about, AA?_

_I… I'm sorry, little one. I couldn't help it. I played something like it when I was in the Digital World,_ he replied. _I wanted to see… I'm sorry._

_I know,_ she lamented. _Just… don't do that sort of thing again, all right? We could have gotten into a lot of trouble for that._

_I'm sorry._

"Well, that was interesting," Nikolai admitted, shoving his hands into his pockets. He breathed out and then said, "Thunder Heart?"

"Yeah," Loaño agreed.

* * *

The game store was a few buildings down the street and it didn't look terribly busy this afternoon, which was how Loaño preferred it. She didn't like it when game stores got crowded and stuffy. It made it hard for her to do what she needed to do.

Thunder Heart was decorated with posters of upcoming games from all companies – major ones being _Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, God of War: Ascension, Gears of War: Judgment_ (though this one was already on shelves)_, The Last of Us,_ and others. The one that Loaño was looking for, _Zany Princess 95_, was sitting on a shelf labeled _New Releases_. She picked it up in her free hand and placed it on the counter.

She frowned – there was no one behind the counter. She looked into the back room and saw the back of a blonde-haired, muscular man in his mid-thirties. She _knock_ed on the counter and called, "Arthur!"

Arthur Reinhardt, the man who owned Thunder Heart, looked behind him and then smiled as he recognized the face behind the counter. "Lo! I was wondering when you might stop by." He came out of the back room and leaned on the counter, asking, "What can I do for you?"

"Just buying today," Loaño admitted, pushing the game forward.

"Ah, _Zany Princess,"_ Arthur commented. "This one's been getting some good reviews already, and it came out today. Not as good as _Mech of the Third Reich_, but it's climbing the charts. How did you like that one, anyway?"

"_Mech?_ It was good," Loaño replied. "There are people saying that it's a better shooter than _Far Cry 3,_ but that's a stretch, I think. They're pretty equal. The story is amazing, though. The ending was something I didn't see coming at all. I hope there's a sequel."

"Who knows," Arthur said, sighing. "With a new CEO, who knows what direction Shinigami Conglomerate will go?"

"A new CEO?" Loaño repeated. "When the hell did _that_ happen?"

"About a week after all of the digimon stuff," Arthur explained, confused. "I thought you'd know, Lo – Resperie stepped down. Some guy – Kurosuchi – took over. _Zany Princess_ is the last thing Shinigami Conglomerate's releasing with Vivienne Resperie's name on it."

"… Wow…" Loaño murmured, looking at the game. Vivienne Resperie had started Shinigami Conglomerate a few years before Loaño had been born, and had been both of her parent's employers. She was a head developer, director, writer, and sometimes even the artist, alongside Loaño's mother. Loaño had even met her a few times. Vivienne was the one who had sent the brunt of the letters asking Loaño to work for Shinigami Conglomerate.

_That signature did look different this time,_ she thought. _I never really paid them that much attention before…_

"Wait, Resperie stepped down?" Nikolai interjected. "I don't believe that!"

"Well, believe it or not, Nikolai, it's happened," Arthur said, sighing. "It's a loss – but maybe Kurosuchi can pick up where she left off?"

_What's happening, little one?_ AA asked. _I understand about what Arthur's talking about, but it feels unusually important to you._

_It's just weird,_ Loaño thought to him, _it doesn't feel right. Like that shouldn't have happened. I don't know… I guess I thought Vivienne would hold Shinigami Conglomerate forever or something. She built the company from the ground up. Now seems like a strange time to abandon it._

_There is something odd about it,_ AA agreed. _But there's nothing we can do. What is this _Zany Princess_ anyway?_

_It's a game about a kingdom ruled by a Princess. She spends the game looking for someone to rule beside her while her kingdom is being attacked._

_That doesn't really sound zany at all._

… _The "zany" is better seen than explained,_ Loaño offered. _You'll see when I play it tonight._

_I see._

Arthur rang up the game and Loaño paid for it. He offered while handing her the bag, "I could use some help this weekend, if you want."

"Sure; I'll see what I can do," Loaño replied. "I shouldn't be too busy, but who knows?"

"Also, who's the guy with the hat?" Arthur wondered. "A new friend of yours?"

"Uh…" Loaño frowned. She looked to Nikolai for help, knowing that she wouldn't be able to lie to Arthur.

"His name's Az," Nikolai told him. "He's from out of town. Doesn't talk much."

"Ah," Arthur breathed. Whether he believed Nikolai or not, he didn't say. "Well, I suppose he's welcome here. Any friend of yours is a friend of mine." He looked up and then smiled, saying, "Why, hello there, Hikaru!"

"Dad!" someone called.

Loaño and the others looked to the entrance of the store to find a younger girl with blonde hair and blue eyes entering the store. A skinnier girl was following her, her red hair making her stand out and her gray eyes full of confusion.

"Hikaru!" Loaño breathed. "It's been a while."

"Hey, Lo!" Hikaru greeted. "Nikki. New guy."

AA said nothing. His gaze was trained on the red-haired girl, and she looked like she was going to melt into a puddle of nervous goop by looking at him. She was pale and seemed to be shaking. Hikaru looked a bit miffed at not being acknowledged, but she didn't seem to care. She bounced up to the counter and said, "This is Hayato Hinahana, Dad."

"Hinahana?" Nikolai repeated. "You mean, your house was the one that we had that party at?"

Hayato nodded wordlessly, saying nothing. Her eyes were still locked with AA's, and it was as if she was too afraid to look away.

_What the hell are you doing to her, AA?_ Loaño asked. _She looks like she's going to have a seizure. Let her go!_

AA offered no reply.

"Huh," Nikolai commented, "small world."

"She's my new friend!" Hikaru declared, smiling. She looked to Arthur and then said, "Hey, Dad; we came for _Zany Princess!"_

"Ah, right," Arthur breathed. "Sorry. I'll have to get it from the back. Give me a minute."

Arthur turned around and went into the storeroom. As soon as Arthur was gone, AA took off his hat, letting his ears breathe the fresh air.

"AA! What the hell are you doing?!" Loaño _hiss_ed. "Put that back on!"

"Greetings, Hayato," AA said, ignoring her. He bowed to Hayato and then said, "I am AncientAnubismon."

"A-AncientAnubismon?!" Hikaru repeated. "Y-You're the guy that everyone's looking for?"

AA nodded, still looking at Hayato.

"Huh. Somehow I imagined you'd be taller," Hikaru commented.

"AA, are you off your nut?" Nikolai demanded. "Shut up, will you? They'll turn us in! Put your hat back on!"

"I only wanted to say hello to Hayato," AA offered. "Plus, that hat was constricting my ears. I'll put it back on in a minute."

"Huckmon talked about you," Hayato said finally. Her voice was so quiet that everyone had to strain to hear her, but she was speaking nonetheless. "He said that you tried to save the Digital World all on your own, and that the Seven only want to hurt you when they find you."

"He speaks the truth, though I didn't fight on my own," AA replied. "Is Huckmon near?"

Hayato nodded. "He's hiding outside," she replied, "in an alley. With the Sistermon."

"I see," AA mused. He smiled and then said, "Be not afraid of what's to come to you, Hayato. You won't be alone throughout it. We will all see one another again, I know."

"Uh… what's going on?" Hikaru asked.

"She's one of us," Loaño realized.

"Huh? What?" Hikaru wondered. "What're you talking about?"

"Are you serious?" Nikolai asked. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Loaño replied. "Hayato's one of us."

"What the hell are you guys talking about?!" Hikaru demanded loudly.

Loaño looked to Hikaru and said frankly, "Hayato's going to help us save the world."

Hikaru was silent. Then, she said, "Hayato… _that_ Hayato? The one standing right there? The one that's afraid of her own Goddamned _shadow?"_

Loaño nodded.

"You're crazier than I thought," Hikaru decided. "You both are."

"No," Hayato said, this time more loudly. "They're right, Hikaru. I am one of them… but I'm afraid…"

"Don't be," AA told her. He took her hand in his and held it tightly, giving her a calm, serene smile. "With Huckmon beside you, you will find that you're braver than you realize. Stronger, too."

Hayato gave him a weak smile. She pulled her hand away from him and bowed to him, saying, "Thank you. I will do my best to help you, though I can't help but be afraid."

"Fear is not necessarily a weakness," AA promised her. "You will find what makes you strong, in time. Just ask Huckmon will find what he needs to become a Royal Knight. But keep this secret, Hayato. I am not ready to reveal my hand just yet. I need more time. When the time comes for us to stop the Seven, you'll know."

Hayato nodded and then AA turned to the others. "We ought to be going," AA said, fitting his hat back on his head. "I've seen all I need to see, and your errands are done, are they not?"

"They are," Loaño replied. "You're right; we ought to get out of here. Nikki?"

"I'm good. Let's go," Nikolai agreed.

"It was good to see you again, Hikaru," Loaño offered.

"Why is it that weird ass things always seem to happen when _you're_ around, Ishida?" Hikaru demanded.

"I have no idea," Loaño answered.

The three of them left Thunder Heart, their purchases in tow. Once they were out on the street again, they noted the position of the sun in the sky and then began walking towards home. Loaño caught a glimpse of Pegasusmon flying through the sky, past the sun – just a black dot in the atmosphere, following them.

"So she's one of us, huh?" Nikolai wondered, when they were a few blocks away from the music store and Thunder Heart.

"Yes," AA replied. "I saw her face, along with Huckmon's, in my vision."

"So her, plus us, Jaen, and Hamlet, makes five out of seven," Nikolai surmised. He looked to Loaño and then asked, "Any idea who the other two could be?"

"Nope," Loaño replied. "He won't tell me what they looked like. They could be anyone, anywhere! Gods, I'll be grateful when we finally find them, though…"

"I wonder who they are…" Nikolai murmured.

* * *

"OK, Haseo, before we do this," Celena breathed, "are you _sure_ no one is here?"

Haseo nodded and replied, "Dominic is out with Jay and Shirohane is at a friend's. It's just us, Celena. I promise. My door is even locked, just in case."

"Good," Celena decided. She smiled devilishly at him and then said, "Because I would _hate_ for someone to interrupt us…"

She leaned in and kissed him. Haseo wrapped his arms around her and she melted into him, feeling comfortable and safe in his arms. She wrapped her arms around him, one hand resting on his back, the other in his soft white hair.

Haseo trailed kisses down from her lips until he reached her neck, and there he began kissing gently, not wanting to leave any markings for others to see. Celena shifted and smiled, lying down on her back. Haseo moved himself so that he was on top of her, being careful not to hit his head on the ceiling. It had happened before, and it hadn't been pleasant for him. He reached back and drew his covers up over himself creating a tent over them using his body as the support. Celena liked the feeling of being concealed like this, and she smiled.

She reached up and began to remove Haseo's shirt. He adjusted himself so that the blanket wouldn't come off as she did, and when it was off Celena tossed the shirt beneath them onto the floor. She touched his bare chest and smiled as she felt the warmth of his pale skin.

Haseo leaned down and kissed her, starting to wiggle her out of her shirt, too. The kiss was paused as he pulled it off of her and tossed it onto the floor beside his. After, Celena pulled him down closer to her, loving the feeling of their skin touching and kissing him everywhere she could reach as Haseo fumbled with her bra. He'd had difficulty with it the first few times, but it came off easily this time and it, too, landed on the floor.

Before he began kissing her newly-exposed breasts, he reached down and began tickling her waist. Celena jerked and laughed, cursing at him and trying to playfully push him off of her. Her laughter made Haseo smile, and seeing her writhe around made him crack up a little himself.

"Shut up and take off your pants!" Celena demanded, grabbing in his hands to stop him from tickling her further. She unbuttoned his pants for him, intentionally touching the growth within. Haseo gasped and cursed her internally for torturing him, but he obeyed and took off his pants, underwear and all. When he was exposed beneath the blanket, he didn't allow Celena the chance to torture him further before he pulled her skirt off of her.

"No underwear?" Haseo realized, blushing furiously.

"Saves time," Celena admitted, flushing. "Thought you might like that. Made the ride over here really strange, though."

Haseo tossed her skirt aside and kissed her again. "You didn't have to do that," he breathed to her quietly.

Celena shrugged and replied, "I felt like it. I don't hear you complaining."

"Of course not," Haseo said, smirking.

Celena kissed him, and Haseo let his hands roam her body. He relished the feel of her soft skin and the way it felt pressed up against him, and he felt her hands doing the same. There was one spot that he wanted her to touch above all the others, but he knew she would torture him a little before the fun really began. He enjoyed doing the same to her, and he could feel her writhing to try and get a nice bit of pressure against the space between her legs. He rubbed her breasts and played with her nipples, causing her to moan loudly.

She pulled back, hearing herself, and murmured, "Sorry…"

"It's all right," Haseo insisted, "there's no one here."

Celena smiled and then kissed him again, feeling reassured. They picked up where they left off, touching and kissing one another. When Haseo kissed one of her nipples. Celena moaned loudly again, this time not apologizing for herself. He placed his hand teasingly between her legs…

And then a stuffed animal hit him on the head.

The lights in his room came on, and suddenly Haseo was looking down at the face of his brother. Dominic's face was twisted up in a rare smile of amusement, something that Haseo didn't often see, but something he also didn't appreciate right now. Haseo picked up the stuffed animal from his bed – a little stuffed tiger – and threw it back at Dominic. His older brother caught it and laughed.

"Next time, make definite sure that no one's home," Dominic warned him, smiling playfully. "Or is coming home _early."_

"You were supposed to be gone until tonight!" Haseo snapped. "What the hell, Dom? How did you get in here?"

"I felt that there was a reason to come back early," Dominic replied, his gray eyes flashing like a snake's. "I didn't want Jay out all night. So I dropped her off." He opened one of his hands to reveal a shiny silver key and then added, "And you forget that I have the key to all the rooms while Mom is away."

Haseo sighed, having legitimately forgotten about that fact.

"Oh, please," Celena scoffed, pulling another blanket over herself. "You've stayed out all night with Jay before. Like you wouldn't do it again."

"True, true," Dominic mused. "By the way, I have a message for you, Celena – '_Quit meddling in my affairs, or I'll start meddling in yours.'_ I think that's what she said, anyway."

"I hate my cousin," Celena decided, groaning.

"Oh, also," Dominic began. He tapped the walls and stated, "Either the walls are thinner than I recall them being, or you were being quite loud. I could hear you all the way from the back door."

"Shut up, Dominic," Haseo grumbled.

Dominic only laughed and turned away, leaving the room. "Just doing my job!" he called from the kitchen.

"I'm going to kill Lo," Celena decided, after Dominic was gone. "How the hell did she even get your brother's phone number?!"

"Uh… from me," Haseo replied hesitantly.

"From _you?!"_ Celena exclaimed. "Why would you give it to her?!"

"… She asked nicely?"

Celena pinched her brow and then said, "The next time that Lo asks something from you _nicely,_ don't do it. All right? Was she smiling when she told you the reason why she wanted it?"

"Y-Yes, and I – oh," Haseo stopped short, realizing his mistake. "I keep forgetting that she smiles when she lies."

Celena groaned and promised, "I am _so_ going to kill her tomorrow…"


	9. Episode 8

**Episode 8: Thieves of Trash and Cheese**

Celena set her bag down beside her desk. There were no students in the classroom at the moment – she was here early, as always. She took off her jacket and hung it on her chair, and then began rifling through her bag. She found her homework from last night and laid it out on her desk before her, pencil in hand, looking over it to make sure there were no errors.

The classroom was quiet. It was a fairly large room, filled with desks enough to seat about twenty other students. The teacher was here, but not present in the room at the moment. Celena reminded herself to ask if her teacher needed help with anything before class started. Otherwise, the only noise she could hear was the stirring of people in the halls outside – students not eager to get into class yet, teachers preparing their work for the day, and other staff milling about and doing their jobs.

It took Celena about twenty minutes to check over her homework – she had discovered that she had actually gotten two math problems wrong, and she corrected them. Afterward, she put her homework back into her bag and leaned back in her chair, sighing.

She had been competing with Aimi Tano for the best grades in their high school for about as long as they had both been in attendance. Aimi was a tough opponent – just as thorough and tenacious as Celena, with a very good reputation amongst the students and staff. Celena didn't have such a good reputation amongst the students thanks to the people she hung out with: Nikolai was popular with the jocks and nerds alike, but as a foreigner people found it hard to approach him; Haseo was reclusive and liked his privacy; and Loaño… well… Celena's cousin had a bad reputation that had followed her from middle school. Students who knew her then knew better than to cross her now, and those who didn't know her at all soon fell in line with the others. As such, Celena tried her best to be a warm, welcoming person, simply to balance out the ripples made by her cousin. It worked most of the time; but she was still regarded with wariness. Nikolai's reputation with people who disagreed with his presence wasn't as well known, though – and he wanted to keep it that way. So far there hadn't been any problems regarding his being foreign.

Celena checked the clock on her phone – it would be a few minutes before school started, and she wondered if the others were here yet. Haseo got a ride from either Dominic or his mother, but they dropped Shirohane off at middle school first. Nikolai either walked or got a ride from his mother. Loaño, however, almost exclusively walked to school… which meant that she would probably be here by now.

She stood up and walked out of the classroom and into the hallway, bowing respectfully to any figures of authority who passed by. Celena loitered in the halls, leaning up against the wall beside her classroom.

Eventually Loaño did show up – she wore a black jacket over her uniform and a shoulder bag that held all her supplies. Loaño paused by Celena and the cousins stared at one another for a long moment. Finally, Celena found that she couldn't hold a straight face any longer against her cousin, and she laughed. Loaño smirked and joined in, walking into the classroom. Celena followed.

Loaño set her bag down beside her desk and then sat on top of it, swinging her legs back and forth with a smile on her face. Celena calmed herself down and stood before her cousin, her hands at her hips.

"How bad did Dominic get you guys?" Loaño asked.

"Not badly," Celena admitted, recalling the day before. "His interruption was unpleasant, though."

"When did he actually…?"

"We weren't actually in the middle of it, or anything," Celena said wistfully, as if she wished they'd gotten to that point. "He popped in just before things started getting really good."

"Well, I suppose that's good for him – no one wants to see that," Loaño said, grinning.

"You cheek!" Celena scolded, frowning. "Don't mistake me – I'm mad at you, itoko."

Loaño rolled her eyes, shrugging off her jacket. She hopped off of her desk and then hung her jacket around her seat. "Yeah, right," she challenged.

"Look, I told you that I was sorry about that duet thing," Celena reminded her. Loaño had been upset about it – or something – afterward, when all the turmoil caused by the digimon had died down. Celena had expressed her apologies several times, until finally Loaño was forced to accept them in order to get Celena to talk about something else. "So why would you do this to us?"

Loaño shrugged, suggesting, "Maybe I'm still a little miffed about it. It won't happen again; not unless you piss me off, that is."

Celena frowned at her cousin as the other girl set about washing the chalkboard before the teacher arrived. Celena stepped up to the board and grabbed another cloth, helping out as she thought about it. She glanced at her cousin while they were cleaning, and found that Loaño's unusual silver eyes were focused and deep in thought.

It finally clicked in Celena's mind, and she breathed, "Something _happened,_ didn't it?"

"Huh?" Loaño wondered, still washing the board.

"After the song – before all the digimon shit. Something happened!" Celena explained. "I can tell! _That's_ why you've been so broody these past few weeks!"

"I'll give it to you that something happened," Loaño offered, not meeting her cousin's eyes. "But it's not what you think."

"Well, you got upset enough to exact revenge over _something_ that had to do with the duet," Celena crowed proudly. "Now, what was it, exactly?"

Loaño said nothing, washing the same circular area of chalkboard with an intensity that was very telling to Celena, who knew her cousin's ways of keeping secrets. Celena smiled knowingly and said, "Its Nikki… isn't it?"

"It's none of your business, Celena," Loaño growled.

"Oh come on, itoko," Celena begged. "I just want to know what's going _on_ with you! Lately you've been in a horrible mood and it's really unlike you."

"You want me to tell you my business?" Loaño asked with a hint of anger in her tone. "How about you not telling me about you and Haseo until just a week ago! How the hell did you think I felt about _that?"_

Celena shut her mouth, realizing that she had a point. Celena and Haseo had been talking about going out with one another and things of the like for what seemed like forever… until finally they had just decided to do it anyway. The problem with that was that it happened before the party, and that Celena hadn't yet told Loaño about it. Her being the leader of their band and her cousin, she had deserved to know.

"I don't want that sort of shit fucking up the band," Loaño growled, "or I might as well have not started the band at all."

"We promised you it wouldn't get in the way," Celena assured her again, picking at a stuck-on piece of gum placed on the board by some disrespectful student. "You don't trust us?"

"… I _do_ trust you," Loaño replied. "The both of you. I trust that you know better than to let it all go to your head… but that doesn't mean it won't happen anyway. Sometimes you can't control that sort of thing."

Celena scraped the gum off of the board and then washed the area clean of its stickiness, tossing the gum away. "My personal life has never done anything to get in the way of the band… and neither has Haseo's. I _promise_ you, Lo, that our conjoined personal life won't get in the way. All right?"

"I know," Loaño replied, smirking. "You guys can fuck up a storm; I don't care. The band means a lot to me, though. I'll do whatever I can to make sure that it doesn't end up going down without a fight."

"So…" Celena began, as the two began cleaning up the cleaning supplies, "what _did_ happen to you and Nikki after the duet? You two just disappeared into the crowd afterward, and then all that shit happened."

"We just talked…" Loaño replied, her back to Celena.

"You sure?" Celena asked.

"Yes," Loaño replied, putting the supplies back beneath the teacher's desk. "We just talked."

"Look me in the face and say that," Celena demanded.

"… Am I interrupting something?"

Celena looked back to find Haseo standing in the doorway, his pack slung over one shoulder. Celena smiled at him and was about to explain what was happening when Loaño turned and said, "We were just chatting, that's all. How was yesterday?"

Haseo flushed red and stammered, "I-It was… I-I…"

Loaño chuckled, turning to him. She walked up to him and patted him on the shoulder, causing Haseo to flinch away out of fright. She told him, "I'm not going to hurt you, Haseo… not unless you prove yourself… unworthy."

She turned to Celena and said, "I'll be back before class starts. Just going to take a little walk around the school. Should I shut the door and give you two your privacy?"

"Just go!" Celena growled with a smirk. _You little cheek, using Haseo as an excuse to get out of answering me… _

"Heh," Loaño chuckled, "don't mess the room up too much…" She left the room and took off down the hall, whistling as she went. Celena listened for her cousin's steps to get drowned out by all the other students who were now in the building.

"So… uh… how did that chat go?" Haseo asked.

"How do you think? It's Lo," Celena sighed. "When it comes to keeping something secret, she'll lie right out of her ass… even though she knows she's no good at it."

* * *

Hayato loved the smell of the books in the school's library. It was calming to inhale the scent of paper and ink and binding, and it made her feel at peace to be among so many books. She felt the clean, glossy covers of the newer books in the library before she shelved them, taking mental notes of the ones that piqued her interest.

She had been helping out in the library practically since the first day of school. Every student did their best to try and help the teachers and other staff before, during, and after school, but Hayato almost exclusively worked in the library shelving new books or returning old books to their proper places after students had read them. They had only one librarian, and he was grateful for Hayato's help when he had other work to do.

Hayato picked up a copy of _Butterfly Wednesdays_ and smiled at it. She recalled Hikaru mentioning it to her, and made a much more prominent mental note to borrow the book and read it. It seemed short enough, and she knew it wouldn't take her long to get through it. She put it on the shelf.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when a small group of students walked into the library. She watched them warily behind a bookshelf as they sat down at a table, books in hand, and began doing some of their homework. Hayato shivered and took a breath, hoping that she was invisible to them. Still, as she returned to shelving the books, she couldn't help but hear some of their conversation – the library wasn't that big, after all, and it was quite easy to eavesdrop when there was only one conversation going on.

"Did you hear?" one of them began – a preppy-looking girl. Hayato recognized her voice from having heard it in the hall, but it wasn't anyone in particular that she knew. "A digimon supposedly broke into a bakery last night. Stole a shit ton of food!"

"Jesus," a boy cursed. "Can't they just go home? Can't they see that we're sick of them being here?"

"It's not like they can just _leave,"_ someone else pointed out, another boy. This voice also seemed really familiar, though Hayato hadn't heard it enough to actually recognize the owner, either. "According to the news, the digimon keep saying something about their home being _really_ fucked up."

"They're probably just lying," the girl from before decided. "Hell, they're probably working with the Seven to take us all out! What did humans ever do to them?"

"Nothing," the first boy reported. "Who has even _heard_ of the Digital World before now, anyway? They need to leave."

"They need to have their heads blown off – all of them," the girl growled hatefully. "They killed people."

"That was the Seven, Mari; not all the other digimon," the second boy stated. "I agree that they should leave; but you shouldn't condemn all of them like they're killers. This is a new world to them and they don't know how to survive. They're trying their best, and I'm sure they don't want to make it a problem for us, either."

"Shut up, Jaen," Mari growled. "No one asked you. Jesus, you almost sound like you _want_ to defend them."

"I do," Jaen replied pointedly.

Hayato peeked out from behind the shelf and saw that it was indeed Jaen sitting there with the other boy and girl. He was looking very upset. Mari, the girl, leaned in towards the other boy and said, fluttering her eyelashes, _"You_ agree with me, don't you Arata?"

"Uh…" Arata stammered. He smirked and then said, "Yeah; I guess." He flushed and then looked away, while Mari glared at Jaen with triumph in her eyes.

"You're a bitch, Mari," Jaen decided with certainty. He stood up and seemed to ignore the look of shock on her face as he went on, "No one should be that quick to vilify anyone – especially when they make no effort to understand them."

Jaen turned and walked away, exiting opposite Hayato. Hayato watched him go, marveling at the stunned reaction he'd gotten from Mari and Arata with just a few words. It was like what he had done to Sen and Kuni at the party that seemed to have happened ages ago. What they were saying about digimon had hurt Hayato, too, but she knew she wouldn't have been able to say anything – just like she had been powerless to stop Sen and Kuni without Hikaru and Jaen's help.

_Huckmon wants to teach me to be strong…_ she thought, _but can I really be strong when I can't even stand up for myself in the smallest of ways?_

She watched Mari and Arata go, leaving silently and completely ignoring her as if she weren't there. Hayato breathed a sigh of relief – she didn't want to be near anything so tense. Just as she turned to go back to shelving the books, however, she heard another person entering the library.

"Hayato?" they asked. "That you?"

Hayato peeked out from behind the bookshelf and found that Loaño Ishida was standing near it, her arms crossed over her chest. Hayato shivered and felt herself pale, and she slunk back behind the bookshelf to hide.

"Oh, come on; I'm not _that_ frightening, am I?" Loaño sighed from behind the bookshelf. "Look; I'm just here to talk about what happened yesterday, all right?"

"Y-Yesterday…?" Hayato breathed.

"In Thunder Heart," Loaño explained. "You know, when my digimon partner decided it was a good idea to dramatically reveal himself to you?"

"O-Oh…" Hayato breathed.

Loaño came around the bookshelf barrier between them and then put her hands into her pockets. "He can be a bit unorthodox and confusing, but I trust him when he says that you'll help Nikki and me," she said. She pulled one hand out of her pocket, holding a small piece of paper. "My number – call me if you need me."

Hayato reached out and took it, shakily. She unfolded the piece of paper and looked at Loaño cell phone number and then up at her. She bowed, saying, "Thank you."

Loaño smirked and said, "There's something else, if you don't mind. Keep an eye on Jaen and Hamlet for me, will you? I personally don't like dealing with jocks, but since you seem to know them… just, keep an eye out for them, all right? They're part of this, too."

"T-They are?" Hayato breathed. She couldn't imagine how they could possibly be involved in saving the world from the Seven. She had hardly any clue as to what was happening right now, or what she had to do with anything, either.

Loaño nodded. "There are two more, and I don't know who they are," she said. "I suppose when we find out who they are, we'll all be able to get together and stop the Seven from destroying our world. But for now, we'll have to deal with what we've got."

Hayato nodded in reply. Loaño rolled her eyes and sighed, "Gods, you're quiet… but at least you're not a prep or a jock. Just keep this between us, all right? I'm sure you won't have a problem with that, right?"

"H-Hikaru…"

"You can tell Hikaru about all of this, just so long as she doesn't out AA," Loaño offered. "He's the only one who can give us even a hint as to how to defeat Lucemon and the others. If we lose him, we lose all our hope. But she hasn't outed you and your partner yet, so I guess she's all right. I don't know her all that well. Keep your partner out of sight and don't let him get into any trouble – digimon are really good at that, it seems."

Hayato nodded again in agreement.

Loaño looked up at the clock. "Almost time for school to begin," she commented. "We should get going."

Hayato looked up at the clock and then back down at Loaño. She nodded a third time, and the two left the library to go to their classes.

* * *

"Haseo! Could you take out the trash?" Dominic called.

"Why can't you? Or Shirohane?" Haseo wondered, looking out of his bedroom door. It had been a long day at school –just a long day in general. He had just gotten done with all his homework and was trying to work on the song that Celena had almost caught a detailed glimpse of, though he hadn't gotten more than one or two verses down before being asked to take out the trash.

Dominic's face appeared within the frame of Haseo's door. "Just do it while its daylight," he stressed. "Or need I remind you how awful it was to nearly see you and Celena naked?"

"Fine," Haseo said resignedly, sighing. "Are you going to use that as ammunition for everything now?"

"No," Dominic promised. "Shirohane actually wants help with his homework and he asked me. So… kind of hard to take out the trash when you're helping your littlest brother with homework."

Haseo pushed himself away from his desk and walked out of his room with Dominic. The gray-haired young man offered, "There's not much, anyway."

"When's Mom getting home?" Haseo wondered. "Late, again?"

"She had a meeting," Dominic replied, crossing his arms. "She said she'd be home by dark."

"She's been having a lot of meetings lately," Haseo decided.

"A lot of people have been suing a lot of other people lately," Dominic reminded him. "This whole digimon thing has been nothing but a pain in the ass, but at least Mom's making more than decent money because of it. I know it sounds selfish, but it's true."

"It took us a long time to get in a good place after him, didn't it?" Haseo murmured, looking up at his older brother.

Dominic's face hardened greatly, and Haseo wondered if he'd said the wrong thing. Finally, Dominic replied quietly, with a great deal of control, "Yes."

Haseo nodded and pushed past his older brother. He found his shoes and put them on, and then took the three bags of trash in both hands. He pushed himself out the back door and then began walking up the driveway. He pushed the thoughts that had emerged down again – choking them back like tears. It had taken him a long time to forget that he even forgot how easy it was to remember.

He tossed the garbage bags into the cans at the front of their property so that they could be picked up in the morning. He looked up at the sky and found that the sun was setting, but the moon was becoming visible in the sky as well. It was almost time to be inside for the night.

Haseo turned around and almost immediately heard the sound of one of their trash cans being knocked over. He turned back around to find that something was rifling through their garbage. Haseo's eyes widened as he watched what appeared to be a dragon raise his head from the pile of scattered trash, a discarded sandwich in his mouth, and lock eyes with him.

They both stood there, silent, eyes locked with one another. The dragon looked starved – he was skinny, his purple fur thin and patchy in places, and his yellow eyes were bright, but hungry. His tail was surprisingly wolf-like he held it high, but the tip was limp. The only thing that shimmered on him was a giant red gem set into his forehead.

Finally, the dragon snapped up the sandwich in one bite, grabbed a box of leftovers in its small hands, and then took off on thin, but strong, legs. Haseo watched the digimon take off down the street – he ignored every other person's trash, as if he were content about what he had already taken. That, or he was guilty about it.

Haseo blinked and then sighed, looking at the pile of trash that the digimon had left behind. He said to himself, "Better get some gloves, then…" before he took off back down the driveway. On the way, he thought, _If he was starving, he could have just asked…_

* * *

Celena sighed. She had gotten her homework done during school, and her mother had wanted to do a little grocery shopping afterward. That had taken what seemed like forever – it was nearly dark when they got into the car to go home, their seats stuffed with groceries. Celena would have much rather spent the day with Haseo, but she couldn't abandon her mother when she needed the help. She kept her complaints to herself, however – Adam was complaining enough about the trip for the both of them.

After about ten minutes of hearing Adam whining about wanting to get back to playing _Mech of the Third Reich_, they were home. Celena's home was modest, yet bigger than most others on their street. For the four of them, it was ample enough room. They even had a guest bedroom that they were planning on loaning out to Loaño once upon a time – before Kidd took her into his custody at the behest of his deceased old friend, that is.

Celena wouldn't have minded Loaño living with them – sometimes she thought that Loaño's attitude towards most things would have been very different had she lived with the Kurosaki's instead of with Kidd – but there was nothing that could be done about it now. Her mother had wanted to take her niece in when her sister died, but Loaño seemed happy with Kidd, so Ashei Kurosaki left her alone about it.

They began unloading the groceries – Adam, of course, rushed up to his room before their mother could request his help, so he got out of it. Celena sighed and began helping, taking the bags of foodstuffs inside their house and returning to the car to load up on more while their mother put the food away.

Finally, Celena returned for her bags – the bags of things that she had bought with her own money, mainly snacks, or ingredients for a meal or two that she wanted to make for herself. But it was mostly snacks and some candy this time around. She put the bags in one arm and closed up the car with her free hand.

As she was about to walk into the house, a flash of white caught her eye. She looked out into the driveway and then frowned. She stared for a long moment until something moved within the bushes at the front of her house.

Out of the brush came a little digimon that, if Celena were standing right next to it, it would only come up to her hips. It had long, big ears that were striped with blue – two pairs of them, in fact. One pair hung at the sides of its face, the other stuck up from its head. It seemed to be wearing a creamy-colored gown of some kind and yet, when Celena looked at it closer, she found that it was really just its torso. It wore a small charm around its neck depicting a sleeping moon, tied up with a pink ribbon. The moon motif seemed to pattern the little rabbit-like creature – it had crescent moons on its stomach, stubby arms, and on its forehead, just above its magenta eyes. A moon-shaped bit of hair came out from its forehead.

As it was getting darker out, Celena noted that the little moons on the creature seemed to be glowing. Celena shivered to herself – she had seen digimon here and there in the past three weeks, but not this closely. This digimon seemed thin and a little droopy, and it's pretty eyes were hungry. Celena could almost hear its stomach growling.

"Are… Are you hungry?" Celena asked.

The little digimon gave a start and shot back into the bushes. Celena flinched and then sighed, walking up the driveway. She reached the bushes and found the little create quaking with fear within. Upon closer inspection of the digimon, Celena found that it looked like it had been hit or hurt recently. Celena made a move to reached out to it, but the digimon shrank back into the bushes, fear in its eyes.

_What would make you so afraid of me?_ Celena wondered. _Did other humans hurt you? You look like you're starving…_

Celena reached slowly into one of her bags. The digimon had its eyes on her the entire time, wary. Celena found a box of Cheez-Its and set it down before the bush. "You can have them," she promised the digimon quietly. "I don't really need them."

She opened up the box and opened up the bag inside, taking out a few of the little crackers and showing them to the digimon, since it seemed to be confused. The digimon pushed itself out of the bushes and with one little hand grabbed the Cheez-Its from Celena's palm. In the instant that their hands touched, Celena felt something like a static-electric shock, and she pulled away.

The digimon didn't seem to notice. It munched on the crackers and after a moment its eyes lit up. It smiled and took the box, its body floating a little bit above the ground. It twirled and then took off, box of snacks in hand.

Celena looked after it, frowning. _What,_ she thought, _not even a thank-you?_

She looked at her hand, where the little digimon had shocked her. Then, she looked in the direction where the little digimon had taken off to. She sighed and then thought, _I guess I was the only one that was nice to it. Oh well. At least Adam won't steal those from me. It needed them more than me._

Celena adjusted her grip on her bags and then went inside. _I suppose digimon are having a really hard time adapting to this place,_ she thought on her way. _I hope it gets better for them…_


	10. Episode 9

**Episode 9: Interviews with a Bellicose Dragon**

Kidd looked at the prison and whistled. There was quite the hole blown into the wall, and there was still rubble all around it. Whatever had caused such a hole to appear right in the middle of a wall of solid, secure concrete was obviously a digimon or a human who had been exposed to gamma radiation and was on a trip of rage. Yellow police tape was stretched everywhere – it formed a fence around the hole, so that no one could enter, and it was even criss-crossing the hole itself.

He sighed. There were a handful of officers milling about the place, making sure that no one got in without their notice. Kidd didn't want to think of what would happen if a delinquent child found themselves in the middle of a prison full of angry digimon.

Devidramon milled about the area, regarding the humans with contempt and yet doing nothing to cause aggression between the two. Kidd could sense that they wanted to, though – these digimon wanted the humans out of the way, so that they could go about their business… whatever that was.

Figuring that out was exactly why Kidd was here, though. Poor him.

Kidd approached the line, badge in hand. The officers seemed to recognize him – to say that he stuck out like a sore thumb would be an understatement – but policy required him to show identification. With a nod, Kidd ducked beneath the lines and then pocketed his badge, observing the situation.

With a _bark_, Isamu followed him, curly tail wagging despite being surrounded by digimon. One of the officers opened his mouth to say, "Uh…"

"He's with me," Kidd replied gruffly.

The officer said nothing more, as if he were too frightened of Kidd to try protesting to the silliness that was his bringing a dog into the prison with him. Kidd smirked and then went on, Isamu at his heels. He ducked beneath the tape that was blocking the hole, nearly tearing it all down. Isamu simply trotted beneath it, the tape not even scraping his ears.

"Now, alls we gotta do is find this Darkdramon fellow," Kidd grunted, standing up straight. He clapped his hands together and wondered, "That'll be easy, right?"

Isamu gave a skeptical _whine._

Kidd waved at him and complained, "Yer such a downer, pup. Quit lookin' at yer bowl like i's half-empty."

Isamu _bark_ed.

"Then I'll fill it up when we git back 'ome," Kidd reasoned. "I can' very well do 'at _now_, can I?"

Isamu _bark_ed again, his tail wagging. He took a step forward and raised his head, sniffing. Kidd nodded and agreed, "Yeah; le's start lookin'."

The prison was desolate and empty. Evidence of the break-out was clear – nearly every cell that Kidd passed had melted bars and locks. Some were still hot, even now. Isamu sniffed them all curiously, but didn't get too close. Kidd saw evidence that digimon had been there for a long time – the bathrooms were obviously used, and the beds looked like they had been slept on by someone who was just a bit too big and heavy for them. Some cells were stained with blood. When Isamu stooped to sniff the dried puddles, he bristled and stepped away.

_So, digimon blood, then,_ Kidd decided. _He would'a recognized 'uman blood._ Isamu was no police-trained dog – but Kidd was more than confident in his abilities. Sometimes Isamu gave the dogs that they had at the station a run for their money – he was much smarter than he appeared. Isamu had accompanied Kidd on nearly all of his investigations – from burglaries to murders and everything in between. He hadn't shied away from anything… but digimon. Isamu didn't like digimon too much.

Kidd had no idea that digimon could bleed – he would've dismissed it all as human blood, in fact, if he hadn't seen AA's bleeding body for himself three weeks ago. He hadn't liked Loaño running off to that party – gig or not, he was still her guardian, and he was a concerned one at that – but he hadn't in his wildest dreams expected her to come home sporting a wounded creature from another dimension just as the world began to fall apart. He'd expected her to come home with Nikolai – but he hadn't expected to see him bearing AA.

Isamu hadn't liked all the blood – but he seemed to like AA just fine. It was hostile digimon that Isamu was wary of, and Kidd was glad to have him around for that. The digimon were like humans – you couldn't tell if they were hostile just by looking at them. Isamu, however, seemed to be able to sense it, like most animals. And all of the digimon remaining in the prison – all Devidramon – were regarding the two with extreme hostility.

The Devidramon were minding their own business, thankfully – they were busy rebuilding the broken parts of the prison. None of them questions Kidd's presence and none of them challenged it, but Kidd could sense that they wanted to tear him apart. It was a terrible feeling – not even the worst criminals he'd encountered gave him that sort of feeling, and Yari often scolded him for his overconfidence with such things.

Humans were one thing, sure; but digimon were another thing entirely.

Kidd made his way to the office of the warden, where he assumed Darkdramon had holed himself up. There were no cells down this hallway, and it was utterly quiet. Kidd had a feeling that Darkdramon knew he was coming, and Isamu's tail trembled as they got nearer to the office until finally, they stood before the door.

Looking down at Isamu, Kidd offered, "You don' gotta come in wit' me, pup."

Isamu _growl_ed at Kidd, his eyes hard.

Kidd nodded and offered, "Alrigh', alrigh'; don' get too offended. Jus' makin' sure. I don' wan' ya pissin' yerself when we git in 'ere, is all."

Isamu _bark_ed, offended at Kidd's suggestion. Kidd shrugged, and then opened the door before them.

The warden's office seemed too small to house the digimon that awaited them. He was about twice the size of a human man, wearing dark blue armor that covered up his features. A reptilian tail that flicked back and forth, however, told Kidd that this digimon had no resemblance to a human other than his bipedal stance, and sharp claws warned Kidd of the danger of upsetting this digimon. By the streamlined look of his armor, this digimon was obviously very fast – and Kidd had no doubt that he had wings hidden somewhere. A mane of red hair streamed down from behind Darkdramon's visor, and it stirred a little as Kidd let outside air into the room.

"So…" Darkdramon _hiss_ed, "you're the detective I was notified of."

"Aye," Kidd replied, "that'd be me."

Darkdramon eyed Isamu and then sneered, "Have you brought me a snack?"

Isamu _bark_ed defiantly, all his fur standing on end. Kidd growled evenly, "No."

"It was common courtesy in the Digital World to bring me a snack if you wanted to speak with me," Darkdramon sighed. He crossed his arms and made a show of doing so, letting the dim light of the room dance across his claws. "You humans aren't so courteous here. What a shame."

"I'm jus' 'ere ta talk," Kidd grunted. "Touch my pup an' ya won' like the result."

"Oh, really?" Darkdramon cackled. "I 'won't like the result'? I'm _so frightened!"_

Kidd frowned. He'd dealt with many a human who acted like Darkdramon – mocking, cocky, sarcastic; as if he held all the power in the world and wasn't afraid to use it at the drop of a hat. Unfortunately for Kidd, though, this was a powerful digimon – and it had been proven – at great cost – that human weapons did nothing to these creatures. And Kidd had no weapons on him at the moment but his wit and guile, which had been enough to get him out of sticky situations before.

If this got sticky, however, he might just end up a splattered mess on the wall.

For once, he'd have to be careful.

"You humans don't scare me," Darkdramon mocked. "You're all weak – I could break you in half with as much effort as it takes to lift my littlest claw. So tell me why I should tell anything to _you?"_

"Ya don' gotta tell anythin' ta me," Kidd rumbled back. "But yer silence is jus' as incriminatin' as yer threats. If yer so powerful, I don' think ya'd feel the need ta threaten me. I was sen' jus' ta figure out wha' exactly happ'ned 'ere and wha' was goin' on 'fore the breakout. Tha's all."

"Unfortunately for you," Darkdramon began, his tone audaciously condescending, "I wasn't here when the breakout happened. If I was, I would have killed the insurgents for sure. So no, I don't know exactly what happened… my soldiers tell me that two humans allied with two digimon and together they sprung the others and busted a hole in the wall to escape. That's about all. I'm sure you saw exactly what happened on your way here."

"I saw blood, too," Kidd reported.

"Oh?" Darkdramon wondered. "And that's important how…?"

"It'was digimon blood," Kidd answered. "I don' know 'ow ya do thin's in the Digital World, but here inna Human World we don' beat prisoners." _We let 'em beat one another._

"It seems to me that you also don't teach yourselves to speak properly," Darkdramon growled. "Your accent is horrendous."

"Japanese ain' my first language," Kidd admitted. "I speak it well 'nough. Answer me – were ya beatin' yer prisoners?"

"Not me specifically, no," Darkdramon answered casually. "You see, most of the prisoners who were imprisoned here were being held as war prisoners. There was a terrible war in our world, now, and you know how wars go – can't have the enemies going back to regroup. We took what we could find of them and plopped them here. No point in trying them – I know what they did. I saw it all with my own eyes. They were all sentenced to death."

Kidd wanted to dispute him, but he couldn't really refute the point Darkdramon had made about war prisoners when it was commonplace here to execute them as well. "But what 'bout the prisoners who weren't war prisoners – other digimon, an' humans?" he asked.

"The humans were to be released upon my return," Darkdramon replied sharply. "I apologize for the breaking of the 'one night' rule, but I like to see my human prisoners off personally. It… keeps them from coming back, if you catch my drift. The digimon prisoners are ours to deal with how we see fit – I do not complain of how you treat your human prisoners. From the looks of things, they have it better than half the people on this wretched world."

"Tha' ain' the poin' 'ere," Kidd grunted.

"Of course it's not," Darkdramon complained, sighing. He waved a hand at Kidd and said, obviously annoyed with his presence, "I've answered your silly questions; now go and don't come back. I don't like humans and I especially don't like nosy humans like you and that woman."

"Woman?" Kidd grunted, confused. "Someone else was 'ere?"

"Yes, and she had an annoying accent just like you," Darkdramon snarled. "Now get out of here, you pathetic mass of flesh, before I get you and your stink out of here myself!"

Kidd didn't like it – and neither did Isamu – but he had no choice but to leave. To press Darkdramon further would most likely lead to their becoming a mess on the wall, and Kidd couldn't very well figure out what was happening if he were a mess on the wall.

* * *

Kotemon made Hayato nervous. It was mostly the fact that he stayed so close to Hamlet that made her nervous – not Kotemon himself. He seemed like a kind digimon, to be honest; but judging by the looks they were getting from the people that they passed, they didn't feel the same about him. Kotemon himself seemed oblivious to the people around him, focusing on what lay before him, his hand ever at the hilt of the small sword on his waist. In retrospect, Hayato decided that _that_ was probably what was making people nervous, though Kotemon made no move to use the sword.

Hamlet had approached Hayato after school just a few hours ago and asked if she wanted to accompany him, Naota, and Hikaru for a walk around the city. Hayato had been too nervous to say _no_ – Loaño had asked her to keep an eye on Hamlet and Jaen, and Hayato had been far too afraid to deny her – so she had said _yes_. Seeing Hikaru again was a good thing, at least, and Hayato found herself enjoying Naota's company, too. He was a little quiet and shy, and he stuck near Hamlet in about the same way that Hayato stuck near Hikaru, but he didn't seem mean.

In fact, if Hayato hadn't known beforehand that Hamlet's boyfriend was, well, a _boy_, she would have easily confused Naota for a young girl. He was short and slim, with little to no muscle on him to speak of. His face was soft and his eyes were pretty, and his hair was cut in such a way that anyone would think a girl his age would have it done. He wore long sleeves - which was odd, for springtime – but Hayato didn't question it. Whenever Hayato looked at him, he refused to meet her eyes. It didn't take long for her to figure out why – she had read so many medical books in her life, thanks to her sisters and father, that she had practically memorized them.

To his credit, Naota didn't seem uncomfortable around Kotemon. He did, however, give a start when he first saw Huckmon – the dragon had appeared so suddenly that Hayato thought she'd have a heart attack. Upon seeing the look on Naota's face, she realized that the two of them had more in common than she first thought. No wonder Hikaru didn't have a problem dealing with her! So Hayato told Huckmon to stay out of sight, like always, and on the way, Hayato found herself explaining to Hamlet and Naota how she and Huckmon met and became partners.

_Loaño said that Hamlet is supposed to help us,_ Hayato thought. _I hardly know him! How am I supposed to tell him that?_ She decided to wait and see. Hamlet seemed like an easygoing enough person; surely the topic would come up at some point?

They walked down the sidewalk in relative silence until Hayato finally asked, her voice just above a nervous whisper, "So… do you all do this… often?"

"Yeah," Hamlet replied. "Naota likes taking walks when it's sunny." He looked to Naota, as if to see if he was correct, and the boy nodded.

_They don't hold hands…_ Hayato realized. Hamlet had his hands in his pockets, and Naota had his arms crossed over his chest, as if he were hugging himself for dear life. _It must have to do with Naota's… condition. Oh, but I can't assume that he's… that's so rude! But it's also really rude to ask about it in front of so many people… _Hayato bit her lip, hard.

"It's almost like a double date," Naota remarked softly. He was nowhere near as nervous a talker as Hayato, so his voice was characteristically much louder.

Upon hearing the statement, Hayato felt prickles crawl up and down her skin. Her face went red and she found herself not being able to meet Hikaru's eyes. For an instant, Hayato wondered if Hikaru was going to be really angry about the insinuation – but she only laughed.

"Cut it out, Naota," she said, laughing. "My Mom already tries to set me up with people. I don't need you doing it, too. Besides, you're making Hayato freak out. She tends to faint when she freaks out. I don't want this walk ending in her being sent to the hospital or something. Her father's a tightwad. I don't want to have to deal with him."

She wasn't being mean about it at all – nothing in her tone even hinted at being annoyed by the concept. In fact, Hikaru sounded like she thought it was amusing. Hayato took a deep breath and recovered herself, playing with a bit of her hair as if to cover up her nervousness. Hikaru patted her on the shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile.

"Oh," Naota breathed, "sorry, then. But you two would make a cute couple, I think."

"You can keep thinking that, coz," Hikaru decided, smirking at him.

"Heh," Hamlet coughed, breaking in, "so… uh… what's new with you, Hayato? Haven't seen much of you since the party."

_Good,_ Hayato thought. _I like being invisible._ But Loaño had been able to find her so easily! Unless she was just as much of an outcast as Hayato had made herself into, that shouldn't have happened. But how could Loaño be an outcast when Hayato had heard such strange and frightening rumors about her…?

"N-Nothing, really," Hayato replied. "The only thing that's really happened is how I met Huckmon and the Sisters. I've… mostly been hanging out with Hikaru."

"Well, it's good to hear that you've kept yourself out of trouble," Hamlet decided. "Not that you're a troublemaker, that is."

"With me around, no one will want to mess with her!" Hikaru declared, looping her arm around Hayato's.

Hayato looked up, trying to avoid Hikaru's smiling face, to find that Huckmon was standing on the rooftop above them. She could see his shape standing on the edge, his cape billowing behind him. She looked down at her feet, feeling embarrassed. She was supposed to be getting stronger! Why would Huckmon want to be with someone weak like her?

"What's going on up there?" Kotemon wondered, breaking through Hayato's thoughts.

The group stopped and peered ahead. A few stores down, one of the buildings was surrounded by police cars. The area was roped off and there were cops milling about the area. Some directed people in the street to avoid hitting their cars, and others directed pedestrians across the road to avoid the confusion.

"Did something happen?" Hikaru wondered.

"Must have," Hamlet agreed. "Come on."

Hamlet led the way as they walked towards the disturbance. The closer they got to the afflicted building, the more damage they saw. The windows at the front were broken, and the door had been snapped in half in an attempt to get in. The inside of the store was utterly broken – shelves on their sides, jars and cans on the floor, broken and empty, boxes and bags torn open and emptied, too. The register at the back of the store was missing, and the counter it was resting on looked like it'd been sawed in half.

Warning bells began going off in Hayato's head, and she dug her heels into the ground to prevent herself from going any further. She wanted nothing to do with the broken building and absolutely nothing to do with the police. Hikaru, however, proved strong enough to pull her along, and Hayato found herself being dragged towards the police-infested building.

It was a specialty foods store – a shop that sold food from other countries. Hayato could see the wrappers and cans that were torn asunder inside, and her eyes flitted over Russian, American, African, and even Spanish words. There were several other dialects, but Hayato didn't know any of them off-hand. Glass shards were everywhere within the police lines, but swept out of the way of people's feet. Officers were barking orders at one another, and all of them looked really confused.

A woman with black hair pulled tautly into a bun seemed to be running things, directing the confusion with authority and strength. The other officers, men and women both, followed her orders without a second thought. Hayato couldn't hear her orders, but she seemed to have a good handle on things.

"Hold it, kids," one of the officers said, holding out his hands to stop the group. "Police business – take it across the street."

"Ham…" Naota began, nervous.

Hamlet ignored them both and shouted, "Tsuchikawara-sama! Officer Tsuchikawara-sama!"

"Hey, kid; what do you think you're doing!" the officer in front of them demanded.

"Hamlet, don't get us into trouble…" Naota insisted, taking a step back to stand behind his boyfriend.

Hamlet waved his arms in the air and shouted, "Tsuchikawara-sama! It's me, Hamlet!"

"Cut that out!" the officer snapped.

"At ease, officer," someone ordered. The dark-haired woman put a hand on his shoulder and the officer relaxed. "I'll deal with them."

"Yes, ma'am," the officer replied. He took a step back, allowing for the woman to step forward. The officer began directing other pedestrians across the street and away from their conversation.

The woman looked at Hamlet, her dark gaze level and professional, and said, "It's quite rude to interrupt someone while they're working, Malderess."

"Sorry," Hamlet replied, bowing to her. He straightened up, swallowed, and then asked, "But what's going on here?"

"Police business," the woman stated, crossing her arms. "I don't need to talk about it with you, my son's friend or not."

"Hullo again, Officer Tsuchikawara," Kotemon greeted, bowing at his waist.

"Ah, Kotemon," Tsuchikawara said, dipping her head to him. "I'm glad to see that you're well."

"Please; we are curious," Kotemon expressed respectfully. "What's happened here?"

"This place is a mess!" Hikaru agreed. "Did it get robbed or something?"

_By the looks of things, _ransacked_ would be a better word,_ Hayato decided, looking into the store.

"Yes," Tsuchikawara answered. "It did. We're not sure of who did it, but… ugh… don't tell anyone… but we're thinking that it has something to do with digimon."

"I beg your pardon?" Kotemon gasped. "We would never do such a thing!"

Tsuchikawara shook her head. She told him, "Regardless of whether you did or not, it's a possibility we need to consider, now that you're here in our world. The bakery that was trashed a few nights ago bore signs of digimon, too. Claw marks everywhere and strange fur, and something was set on fire. This place holds some evidence of digimon, too."

"So you're just going to blame digimon?" Hikaru wondered. "That's horrible!"

"I'm not going to outright _blame_ them," Tsuchikawara insisted, frowning. "The media, however, will spin these stories however they see fit. Though I _do_ see evidence of digimon, I see other things that don't exactly fit that description. I know that not all digimon are bad; but we do know that there are some malicious digimon out there that could be capable of things like this. It's something that we have to keep in mind. I'm doing my best to keep biases _out_ of this investigation."

"I hope so," Hamlet breathed. "You know what'll happen if people start hating digimon more than they already do…"

"I know," Tsuchikawara replied tersely. "The world is already a madhouse because of the Seven. I don't want anything to get any worse than it's already become. The digimon need allies to survive, and they have none."

"They have me," Hamlet stated. "And Jaen."

"A-And me," Hayato chimed in. She wanted to count Loaño and – who was it? Nikolai? – with them, too, but that would raise too many questions.

"Us, too," Hikaru insisted, gesturing at herself and Naota.

"Yes, well…" Tsuchikawara said, sighing, "a handful of teenagers isn't going to do them much good. I myself can't be biased against or for them. It would compromise my job. Unless you guys can somehow turn their reputation around, things aren't going to get any better for them. I want to see things return to normal as much as anyone else… but right now it's my job to make sure that humans and digimon don't get into an all-out brawl on the streets. We don't need to fight another war."

She waved them off, saying, "Now get going, you four. This is official police business, and you shouldn't linger here. Don't tell anyone what I told you, though – they'll find out about it on the news later. For better or for worse."

Her phone began making strange noises then, and she added, "And now I have a phone call to take. Please; go!" She took the phone from her pocket and put it to her ear, answering, "What is it, Kidd?"

Hamlet sighed, and the group directed themselves away from the mess. They were guided across the road by an officer and they were too far away once they were on the other side to understand anything that was being said by the police. Hayato looked up at the roof of the sacked building and saw Huckmon standing on top of it, looking down. She could almost feel his concern as he disappeared, looking for a way to cross the street without being seen.

* * *

"What is it, Kidd?" Yari demanded.

"Wha, no _'ello?"_ Kidd complained lightly.

"Not in the mood."

"A course yer not," Kidd groaned. He rubbed his nose and then told her, "I tried 'aving a talk wit' Darkdramon."

She was silent. And then she asked, "And…?"

" 'E threaten'd me," Kidd growled. He went on to describe the encounter in as much detail as he could. It took about five minutes without interruption, and when he was done he added, "An' 'e threaten'd ta eat Isamu!"

"You shouldn't be bringing him with you on these sorts of jobs anyway," Yari complained. "One day he _will_ get eaten or killed, and then where will you be?"

"Yer breakin' my 'eart, Tsuchikawara," Kidd whined. "Don' talk ta me 'bout tha' sor'a thing!"

"Anyway," Yari sighed. Kidd could sense her rolling her eyes on the other side of the phone. "Darkdramon is hiding something. I know it. I'm not going to ask you to get more out of him, though. I don't want to risk you like that. Continue on as planned – go to Shinigami Conglomerate and make sure things are all right there."

"I don' see much of a poin' ta that," Kidd admitted. "But I'll do it."

"It'll be a nice break from mean old digimon who try to frighten you," Yari mocked, though her tone was serious. "It shouldn't take too long. Just a quick in-and-out and then you can go home. Don't do it today, though. It's already pretty late. Head over here and help me out – this place is a madhouse."

"Got it," Kidd agreed. "Jus' let me talk ta my pup. Let 'er know 'at she'll be makin' 'er own dinner tonight."

"Very well," Yari agreed. "See you soon." She hung up.

Kidd groaned. He hated investigating things like robberies. There was really no excitement to them. He put his phone back into his pocket and then looked to Isamu. "You 'ead 'ome, pup. Got an' tell the pup I ain' comin' 'ome fer a while."

Isamu _bark_ed enthusiastically. He stood there, wagging his tail, not moving an inch.

"Nah, I don' need ya fer this," Kidd insisted. "Go an' make sure 'at she don' get into no trouble, eh?"

Isamu whined, and then spun around in three circles before taking off towards home. Kidd stuffed his hands into his pockets, watching the creamy streak fade into the distance. Kidd sighed, and then began heading towards the crime scene.

It was going to be a long evening.


	11. Episode 10

**Episode 10: Dinner With a Wall**

Loaño put her hands behind her head, leaning back against a wall of pillows. She had taken as many as she could find and placed them just so around and about her bed, turning it into a plush, comfortable couch – perfect for playing video games on, or reading, or even just simply relaxing. She was curled up in a corner, surrounded by pillows, a PlayStation controller in her hands. AA sat on the floor, also surrounded by pillows, his tail curled over his bare feet. He watched the television screen with great interest in his eyes, his hair loose and let down to pool about him on the floor.

Nikolai was sitting on the opposite end of Loaño's bed, his feet up and eyes half-shut. He was leaning up against the wall, supported by pillows. He looked content and comfortable, though he wasn't really interested in Loaño's playing of _Zany Princess 95._

"Why are you still here, again?" Loaño wondered, though not ungratefully. She liked her friend's company. He just seemed to be keeping her company more and more often lately.

"Mum's working late," Nikolai replied. "She said that an interview didn't go as well as she's hoped… she's going to interview some other people."

"Whom is she interviewing?" AA wondered, one ear cocked towards Nikolai.

Nikolai shrugged and then replied, "I don't know. She didn't say. But it's boring being home all alone, so I had Pegasusmon follow me here."

"I hope he's not eating the leaves off of our trees," Loaño commented.

"He's not," Nikolai assured her. "He's actually flying around here and there. He stays nearby, but he doesn't stay in one place for too long. He doesn't want the Devidramon to connect him to you or I. He sleeps in our garage, but he makes sure that no one sees him go in. He doesn't want to get caught again, and he doesn't want to get us into trouble."

"So long as he keeps himself safe," AA decided.

"Don't worry," Nikolai offered. "Ever since we became partners, I can sort of… _sense_ him. I'll know if he gets himself into any trouble."

"I'm just asking since, you know, you seem bored," Loaño pointed out.

"I'm not bored; I just don't like _Zany Princess,"_ Nikolai replied. "I'd rather play a game of _Mech,_ to be frank."

"We can when I get to the next area," Loaño decided. "Shouldn't be too long now."

_Zany Princess 95_ was designed something like _The Legend of Zelda_ – it was a third-person adventure game, starring Princess Zani; a quirky Princess who was looking for her "Prince Charming" – though the similarities ended there. Underneath the colorful characters and scenery, there were terrifying complicated RPG elements. They were hidden enough so that casual players wouldn't notice them on first glance – but hardcore RPG fans would pick up on all of it right away. Princess Zani, while on her quest to find her perfect mate – which could be man, woman, Werewolf, Vampire, or any of a dozen other species (you even had the option of marrying Ser Inkus, an sentient, anthropomorphic octopus and Princess Zani's personal guard), depending on your choices and preferences in the game – has to defend her kingdom from hordes upon hordes of evil, twisted monsters using either her trusty two-handed hammer, Bonebreaker; her own latent magical powers; or a slew of other weapons. There was even a side mission where Princess Zani could pick up alien technology – a laser gun named "Vault Blaster 101" – that disintegrated foes instantly.

All the while, Princess Zani must create peace between her kingdom and some of the other 94 kingdoms, which enrages the other kingdoms and causes them to attack more fervently. There was also an economic system, where Princess Zani could negotiate trade between her kingdom and the others, getting better food and goods for her people or eventually causing an economic depression that would turn her people against her. There were tons and tons of different endings and, to top it all off, it was an open-world game where Princess Zani could travel to the other 94 kingdoms in her world and meet their people, shop at their markets, and so many other things. There was even a lovely hunting/gathering system in the game, which rewarded players who got rid of dangerous beasts such as dragons or harpies or chimeras that were plaguing other kingdoms. Saving a kingdom from a dragon attack would most likely make you gain their favor, no matter what you do in the future.

The game in itself posed so many possibilities that all possible endings have not yet been found. It was Shinigami Conglomerate's proudest work, next to _Mech of the Third Reich_ and Loaño could see her mother's influence everywhere she looked in the game – from the graphics to an NPC quest-giver named Molli, who gave you the quest of rescuing her daughter from a burning building.

Of course, Loaño had known about the reference beforehand and, though she wasn't far enough in the game to be able to see the quest, she knew from pictures sent to her that the model of the little girl looked eerily similar to Loaño. She had given permission for the reference to be used, since her mother had created the story and general design for _Zany Princess 95_, but it gave her a bitter feeling to play the game now. It had taken so long to be developed and released… Loaño wondered if anyone would even recognize her mother's influence on the game and not just at the end when the credits rolled and an _In Memory of Molly Ishida_ popped up.

A big complaint about the game, however, were the checkpoints. It had a free-saving system, of course, but the game saved on its own when Princess Zani was near a checkpoint. The checkpoints were dotted everywhere around the world of the game, and they were usually situated near big boss battles or huge enemy encounters, which made it easy for a player to figure out where those all were. It was mostly a warning for the not-so-hardcore players. However, Loaño was playing on a difficulty where the checkpoints were not there, allowing her to rely on her own instinct of saving. The checkpoints were mostly there for players who didn't want to turn a corner and get instantly eaten by a dragon.

Loaño got herself to the next town – a place that sat between four of the 95 kingdoms, and saved her game. She went back to the home screen on the PlayStation 3 and then got up from her bed. She went over to her closet and opened the doors, glancing at all the games she had stashed inside. She picked out _Mech of the Third Reich_ and flashed it to Nikolai.

"You wanna play?" she asked.

"Aye," Nikolai said, relieved. He looked a little more awake at the sight of a game that was more his style.

Loaño found a second PlayStation controller and then tossed it to him. It was more scuffed and scraped up than the other, but it still worked just fine. Nikolai activated the controller while she bent down before her television to put the game inside the console.

She heard AA's tail _swish_ against the floor and he thought to her, _I hear someone barking._

_AA, people don't bark,_ Loaño thought back. _Not unless they're a little crazy in the head, or something._

_No, it's not a person,_ AA told her. _It doesn't sound like a person. Sounds like a dog._

Loaño looked up and around at AA, finding that he was sitting very still with his ears perked about as high as they could get. The little twitches in his ears told Loaño that he was indeed listening to something.

"Where's it coming from?" she asked.

"Downstairs, by the back door," AA replied sagely.

"It must be Isamu," Loaño decided. "He needs to be let in." _Kidd must have sent him home._ Kidd often took Isamu with him when he went to work – Loaño had no idea why, Isamu was no police-trained dog – but Kidd would often use Isamu as a means of communicating with her instead of using his cell phone. She had often stressed about how insane it was to use a dog like a carrier pigeon when he had a perfectly good cell phone that she had picked out for him because it was big enough for his hands, but Kidd was Kidd and there was no changing him.

"I'll get him," Nikolai decided.

The boy sat up and walked out of the room. Loaño listened for his footsteps to _thunk-clunk_ down the steps and go through the house. She heard a door open with a _creak_, and suddenly the house was filled with the sounds of an excited dog's barking. She heard a _crash_ and realized that Isamu had, once again, knocked Nikolai over.

_That dog is strong despite his size,_ AA remarked.

Loaño rolled her eyes as she heard Nikolai beginning to make his way back up the steps. He opened her door and Loaño smirked at the sight – Nikolai's hair was in shambles, his face shiny with dog saliva. He held Isamu in his arms, and the creamy dog was still licking him. Nikolai looked down at Loaño and decided, "Remind me never to do that again."

He set down Isamu, and the dog charged at Loaño. She was more prepared, however, and caught him before he could bowl her over. He licked her a few times and wagged his tail, _bark_ing into her ears. Loaño pushed him off of her and he ran about in circles before locking eyes with AA. He initially charged at AA, intending to greet the digimon the same way as he greeted everyone else, but instead of bowling him over, Isamu leaped and landed neatly in AA's lap.

Loaño and Nikolai looked at AA as if he were some sort of magician. AA merely shrugged and gently petted Isamu.

"Where's Kidd, Isamu?" Loaño wondered.

Isamu looked up at her and gave three short _bark_s. Then, he laid his head back down and _whine_d pitifully.

"So he's not coming home for a while?" she guessed.

Isamu _bark_ed again, sadly.

"Right," Loaño mused. "Thanks, Isamu."

"You can understand the dog, too?" AA asked, tilting his head. "I thought it was only Kidd who could."

"You learn to speak a little Isamu when you live here," Loaño replied flatly. "I'm not fluent or anything."

"The sad part is she's not joking," Nikolai remarked. "Even I can understand him a little, and I don't even live here."

AA petted Isamu, absorbing that thought. He seemed puzzled about it, but didn't question its credibility. Loaño sighed and then turned off her television. "Looks like I have to fend for myself tonight," she said. "C'mon, Isamu. Let's see what's left in the fridge."

Isamu let out a happy _bark_ and then hopped out of AA's lap. He trotted over to Loaño and circled around her feet as she stood up. He expertly avoided being tripped over as she walked out of the room, brushing off her pants. He raced down the steps and waited at the landing for her so that he could resume his making circles around her legs.

Loaño allowed him continue until she entered the kitchen. She heard the others following her down the stairs, and she looked down at Isamu. The dog stopped his pacing and looked back up at her expectantly.

"You hungry or something?" she asked.

Isamu _bark_ed enthusiastically.

"I see."

Loaño ventured into the kitchen covers and found a small cup. She filled it with water from the sink and then crossed the room over to Isamu's dishes, where she noted that his water dish was half-empty. She poured the cup of water into the dish and filled it nearly to the top. Isamu seemed pleased and began lapping at it.

"He was thirsty?" Nikolai realized.

"Kidd promised him water," AA offered.

Nikolai and Loaño looked at him with astonishment. Loaño blinked, and then said, "Three weeks here and you can understand Isamu?"

"I _am_ capable of inferring things using your thoughts, you know," AA reminded her gently. He tapped his temple with a finger and then said, "I learned from you."

"That's still _really_ weird," Nikolai commented. "Is hearing one another's thoughts normal or something? Because I can't hear Pegasusmon's thoughts at all. I just have a vague sense of where he is and that he's not in trouble."

AA shook his head and then answered, "All partnerships are different, Nikolai. Partnering with a digimon brings out an ability that a human has and amplifies it to a degree. What that ability is for you, I do not know."

"So Lo can read our minds now?" Nikolai guessed.

Loaño rolled her eyes and then turned to the fridge. She opened it and began looking about as AA answered, "On the contrary, the mind-reading thing is exclusive to me. What I bring out in the little one is empathy, along with a few other things."

"_Empathy?"_ Nikolai scoffed. "Lo, _empathetic?"_ Loaño rolled her eyes again as he went on with a joking tone, "She doesn't give two shits what other people think of her!"

"She cares what _you_ think of her," AA pointed out calmly.

"_Alllright,_" Loaño breathed, getting out of the fridge. She clapped her hands together, glared at AA, and then said, "That's enough of that." She couldn't hide the flush on her face, but she wanted the conversation to end there. _I told you to keep your little nose out of it._

AA crossed his arms and, smiling gently, reminded her, _It will only get worse the longer it stews. Wine ages well when the juice is left to fester. Feelings, however, do not._

"There's no food here," Loaño reported tightly. "At least, nothing edible."

"What're you talking about?" Nikolai wondered, raising an eyebrow. He looked over her shoulder at the contents of the fridge and pointed out, "All of that is useable."

"Well, you see, I…"

"You can't cook," Nikolai quipped knowingly.

"Shut up!"

"Oh, come on – we _both_ know that you're a sorry mess in the kitchen," Nikolai told her, chuckling. "Let me handle this." He moved to get past her and into the fridge.

Loaño crossed her arms and stood in front of him. She blocked his way, saying, "No."

"And what are you going to eat?" Nikolai asked.

"I can order in or something," Loaño offered.

"With what money?"

Loaño frowned. Kidd didn't leave money for her unless he knew for a fact that he was going to be late, and sending money by Shiba Inu had proven itself to be unreliable… especially when the Shiba Inu had a tendency to _eat_ the money that was tied to his collar. She cursed Nikolai inwardly for being around so much that he _knew_ that.

Nikolai gave her a smirk and then said, "Step aside."

"No, go cook for your mother or something," Loaño growled weakly, knowing that, in the end, he would win. AA seemed intrigued by this breach in her stubbornness, and his tail flicked back and forth with interest. Isamu was too busy gorging himself on water to care what the silly humans were doing.

"I told you, my Mum isn't going to be home until later," Nikolai reminded her. "She's working. She'll get something for herself. Now move; I'm making us dinner."

"_Us?"_ Loaño repeated.

Nikolai shrugged and then said, "I might as well eat here. No point in cooking for you and AA and then going home to cook for me. I'll just eat here and then take Pegasusmon home before it gets dark."

Loaño frowned and thought, _I hate you._

_No, you don't,_ AA chuckled.

_Shut up._

* * *

"So… what are the chances of the _both_ of us seeing digimon looking for food in our yards?" Celena wondered, putting the flat end of her pen on her lip. She leaned back in her chair and let it spin for a little while, putting one leg on top of the other and bobbing her foot as she spun.

"I have no idea," Haseo replied. "Probably low?"

"Or higher than we think," Celena quipped, sighing. "That poor digimon I saw looked like someone beat it up!"

"They're not exactly our _friends,_ Celena," Haseo pointed out.

Celena sighed, exasperated, and then said, "I know, I know. But they don't deserve to starve. Not _all_ of them can be on the Seven's side, right? Digimon can think for themselves, right? It just seems wrong, is all."

"Do your parents know?" Haseo asked.

Celena shook her head. "I'm sure that they would understand, but I didn't think telling them was the right idea," she replied. "Does your mother know?"

Haseo also shook his head. "I told Dominic and he said to leave it be. If the digimon comes around again, we'll see if we can talk to him and maybe get some answers about it. Otherwise, my Mom doesn't know. She's hasn't been around a lot lately."

Celena frowned and stopped spinning in her chair. She laid a hand on Haseo's shoulder and said, "I know." She set down her pen and then said, "But there must be _something_ we can do…"

"Digimon are dangerous, Celena," Haseo reminded her. "We can't risk pissing them off. I agree that they're not the monsters everyone else seems to think they are – at least, not _all_ of them must be like that – but we can't take those sorts of risks when they could end with us being incinerated or something. That's not a thought I want to entertain, especially if it happens to you."

Celena smiled, appreciating his sweetness. She leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I can take care of myself," she promised him. "But maybe if we get a group together or something, we can figure out how to give them food before they resort to breaking into places and just being generally destructive."

"According to some people, that's already happened," Haseo reminded her.

"Anyone with sense knows to take what you hear on the news with a rather large grain of salt," Celena pointed out.

"True," Haseo agreed. "But please… I stand behind you, no matter what you do, Celena… just _be careful._ You aren't Lo. You can't intimidate or fight your way out of scrapes like she does… and you're thinking of messing with some powerful beings."

Celena smiled wanly and then said, "Well, I don't have a plan yet… but you're right about the fact that I'm nothing like itoko. I like to think of myself as the one who uses her head for more than a tool to use to bash people with my stubbornness and pride."

She slipped off of her chair and slid down next to Haseo. She wrapped her arms around him and said, "And I'm not so stubborn that I ignore the fact that I love someone." She kissed him on the lips and then commented, "Because she is _so_ pigheaded about that."

* * *

Nikolai had managed to make a decent meal out of what was left in the refrigerator, and it actually looked good. He had found some frozen chicken that Kidd hadn't used yet and thawed it and cooked it with some herbs and such that he could find. Then he had found a bag of potatoes, boiled them, and mashed them with a lot of butter. Finally, he had made a simple gravy that went over everything else. It hadn't taken him that long to make it, and suddenly they were sitting across from one another at the kitchen table, food steaming in their faces.

"I put out a bowl of what was left of your lettuce for Pegasusmon," Nikolai had said when they were sitting down. "He doesn't like meat."

"Jeez," Loaño commented. "This apparently looks so good that Isamu wants some." She – and anyone else in the house – knew better than to feed him from the table, though. Kidd was the only one who did that. But Isamu tried nonetheless, pacing around the table with his nose in the air and tail wagging, sniffing for any bit of food that would fall through the air into his waiting mouth.

They ate in relative silence. Aside from the unavoidable thought-conversations that AA and Loaño had, there was no real talking going on. The food was good and well-seasoned despite the lack of seasonings available in the house, and no one was dissatisfied with it. Nikolai seemed proud of his work, but didn't state it.

When the meal was over, Nikolai realized that he ought to head home. The sky was beginning to darken, and staying here for too long would mean that he would have to stay the night at Loaño's house. Though the prospect of it was nice and Nikolai wouldn't have minded it, he knew that his mother would be distraught and furious with him. Whether Loaño herself would be happy or not, he didn't know, and he liked to think that he knew her rather well.

When all was said, done, and cleaned up, the sun was beginning to disappear behind the trees. The air was soft and warm on his skin, evidence of springtime turning into summertime. Kidd was still not home, and Nikolai hoped that he wouldn't be held up long. It wasn't that he didn't think Kidd could hold his own – Kidd was the strongest person that Nikolai knew of – but it had been proven that even strong men and women were no match for digimon.

Pegasusmon looked up at the sky and tapped one hoof against the grass. He commented, "Are you sure you don't want to stay, Nikolai?"

"I don't want to be a burden," Nikolai replied. "You know that. We can make it home in time."

Pegasusmon nodded in agreement, and then allowed Nikolai to mount him. Nikolai had gotten used to riding Pegasusmon – as proven by saddle-sores that he'd noticed in the shower – though the feeling of flying was still something he couldn't get over. The freedom was amazing – feeling the wind in his hair and seeing the city below him, just a jumble of tiny lights like bioluminescent ants. They never stayed in the air for long, though – a digimon in the air wasn't a big deal, but a human riding a digimon in the air? The Darkdramon would question that.

"Well, be careful," Loaño offered. She gave Pegasusmon a pat on the chest and then said, "Keep him safe."

"I will," Pegasusmon promised, flicking his tail over his flanks. He dipped his head to AA and then said, "It was good to see you again."

"And you as well," AA replied, bowing in return.

Nikolai looked at Loaño, ad she looked at him. Her silver eyes had always mystified him – it was common for a person to have gray eyes, after all, but hers seemed to shine in a way that he had never seen before. The fact that they matched AA's eyes notwithstanding, it made her unique, and Nikolai had always liked her eyes.

He gave her a smile, and then said, "We'll figure it out."

"I know," Loaño replied tersely, as if she were grinding her teeth together. "But I get the feeling that we're running out of time."

Nikolai nodded, but at the moment he wasn't entirely sure what they were talking about, if it was even the same thing. He kicked his heels into Pegasusmon, indicating that he was ready to go. Pegasusmon _nicker_ed and stomped his hoof again before rearing up onto his hind legs, bunching his muscles, and leaping into the air. His wings unfurled with a _snap_ that reminded Nikolai of the sound of a sheet flapping in a strong wind and, with a few strong _flap_s, they were airborne and gliding towards home.

"There is something I do not understand, Nikolai," Pegasusmon began as he stabilized himself in the air. He found a draft and caught it, sending him higher.

Nikolai clung to Pegasusmon as he careened through the air, still conscious of the distance between himself and the ground. Though Pegasusmon flew like there was no weight on his back, Nikolai was still very conscious of all of it and he held onto hunks of Pegasusmon's mane in an effort to keep himself steady. "Go on," he offered. "Shoot."

"You care for her, don't you?" Pegasusmon offered. "Though you and I do not share minds, I can feel it. She means a lot to you."

"Aye, you've got that right," Nikolai mused. "She's as good a friend as I've ever had."

"But it's more than that, isn't it?"

"Well, yes," Nikolai said awkwardly. "What're you getting at, Pegasusmon?"

"Nothing in particular," Pegasusmon replied, flapping his wings to raise their altitude. "I don't want to be intrusive… but does she know this?"

"Yes, she does," Nikolai replied.

"And does she feel the same way?"

"Yes, she does," Nikolai repeated.

Pegasusmon looked back at him. The confusion was clear in his eyes. "I am assuming that this is more complicated than I thought," he decided. He turned his eyes back to the sky before them and then tilted his wings to direct them into a slight downward arc. Nikolai's home was approaching quickly, and the sun was still burning behind the trees.

"It is," Nikolai replied. "I know her reasons. Trying to convince her otherwise has been like talking to a brick wall… so I've decided that I'm going to wait."

"Wait?" Pegasusmon repeated. "That seems… silly. My apologies, but it does."

"As silly as it seems, I believe that things happen for a reason," Nikolai explained. "Actively trying to change my lot hasn't worked – at least, it hasn't worked in this regard. So I've decided that when the wall comes down, I'll be there."

"And if the wall never comes down?"

"It's come down before," Nikolai told him assuredly. "It will again. Just a matter of when… and what happens to make it come down. I'm not going to force it."

"So you believe that this will sort itself out in time?" Pegasusmon surmised.

Nikolai nodded and then said, "Yes."

"I see," Pegasusmon decided. "We are almost home."

Pegasusmon began his descent more rapidly, and Nikolai held on tight. He looked towards the mountains in the distance and he could have sworn he could see a faint, dark glow coming from the summit of the highest peak. He blinked, and it was gone.

He took a deep breath, and then exhaled, thinking, _I just hope that this all goes well…_ His gut churned at the thought, and he added, _But I get the feeling that something… bad… is going to happen. Not now, and maybe not anytime soon, but… something. Something is looming._

_I hope we'll be ready for it when it comes._


	12. Episode 11

**My apologies for the lateness of this update. I've had so many things going on, and writer's block stacked up on top of it. Having a dozen plot ideas running through your head for different stories is a real bitch...**

**Episode 11: Helping the Helpless [1: One Side]**

Celena found herself unable to get the face of that poor, hurt digimon out of her mind. She wondered what would possess someone to allow such a cute, harmless little thing to starve. When she closed her eyes, she saw the rabbit-digimon's face, and she felt a pang of emotion in her heart unlike any that she had felt before – it both confused and infuriated her.

What confused her was that she had seen starving young people before – there were ads and infomercials on television all the time that displayed bone-thin children in other countries, and then someone incredibly healthy begging for money for a charity that would supposedly help them. Celena didn't watch much television, really, but she had seen enough of those ads to know that she didn't care to see them again.

The infuriation came from the fact that it was allowed to happen and no one was doing anything to change it. The digimon were in as much trouble as the humans in this situation – if not more. They were the ones stranded in a strange, alien world, with no ideas of the laws or the way things worked here. They didn't know anything about how to buy food and, if they did, who would cater to them? There was so much bigotry in humans when they regarded the digimon, almost more than they had towards other pressing issues in the world. It was like they had forgotten all about those other things to complain about this new one.

Those factors, combined with reports and articles that she had read on the Internet about groups of humans ganging up on digimon in the streets and beating them with various objects, made Celena horrifyingly worried for that poor little digimon, and other digimon like it in the city. The violence wasn't so bad here, though – the police were being very divisive and strict when it came to human-digimon violence and relations – but how long would that last?

Someone had to do something.

If it had to be Celena, then it had to be Celena.

"You want to _what?"_ Loaño asked, taken aback.

"You heard me," Celena said, waving a hand towards her cousin.

"I did," Loaño agreed. "I just want to make sure I heard correctly. You want to give food to the digimon? Like some sort of charity or something?"

Celena crossed her arms over her chest, and then determined, "You think it's a bad idea, don't you?"

"No," Loaño assured her. "I never said that. I'm just worried that this won't turn out how you want it to."

"I was hoping you could help me," Celena told her. "I'll need help finding the digimon who aren't doing so well. Haseo already said that he would help me. What about you and Nikki? Are you in?"

Loaño leaned up against her locker, her hands at her hips, and then said, "I don't know. I don't control him. Ask him yourself. As for me…" She paused, biting her lip. Celena saw her eyes flash, and she could tell that she was thinking. About what, though, Celena couldn't tell. "I don't think I'd be much use."

"What?" Celena exclaimed. "You, not much use? Are you kidding me? Of _course_ I could use your help!"

Loaño shrugged and didn't meet her cousin's eyes. "I… have prior commitments."

"_Prior commitments?"_ Celena repeated. "What the hell does _that_ mean? Lo, what the _hell_ has been going _on_ with you lately?!"

Loaño met her cousin's eyes, and Celena saw that they were like sharp chips of silver or shining iron. Loaño frowned and then stated, "My life is not your business, Celena. You aren't my mother."

"I'm not trying to be your mother," Celena returned. "I'm just really worried about you! We used to hang out after school all the time! What happened to band practice? What are you doing, all cooped up in your house? Nikolai is the only one who sees you outside of school anymore."

Loaño sighed, and then said, "Look… I just don't want you involved, all right? I know it doesn't make any sense right now, but I just don't want you to get…" Her face darkened and she finished, "involved."

"But _Nikolai_ can get involved," Celena fumed frustrated as ever with her cousin. _Is she _patronizing_ me?_ "What's so important that someone you've only know for a little while can get involved while your _family_ is stuck on the sidelines?"

Loaño's frown deepened, and her eyes softened. Finally, she said, "You'll understand soon."

She pushed herself off of the locker and walked down the hallway, her uniform's pleated skirt swinging to and fro on her tiny frame. When she turned the corner, Celena let out the breath the she had held inside, and worry clutched at her heart for her cousin.

Loaño had always given Celena reason to worry. Loaño had been the one to get into all the dangerous situations – fights, arguments, and who knew what else – and Celena had been the one to try and get her out of them. It was thanks to Celena that Loaño hadn't gotten kicked out of middle school – she had been there for her cousin since Loaño's parents died.

"_You'll understand soon,"_ she thought. _What're you planning, Lo? What's going on…? If you're in trouble, just tell me…_ The likelihood of her cousin telling her anything, though, was just as likely as her cousin deciding to show up to school in a frilly pink dress and singing a show tune medley.

Celena sighed and then thought, _But if you won't help me, then I'll find someone who will._

* * *

Jaen glanced at Aimi and then asked, "You sure that little guy is a baby? He eats like Monodramon."

Aimi laughed, glancing at her adopted charge. Poyomon floated above the table, a bone sticking out of his mouth. He had just devoured a whole chicken leg. Normally that wouldn't be so surprising, but it had been the eighth one and Jaen was starting to be concerned.

Next to him Monodramon snorted smoke and laughed, saying between wheezing chuckles, "Baby digimon all eat like that! They've gotta get big and strong before they evolve."

"Evolve?" Jaen repeated. "What, is this _Pokémon?"_

Monodramon threw him a strange look. "What's that?" he wondered.

"Just a game," Aimi answered.

"Well, this ain't a game," Monodramon quipped, licking his lips. "This is real life."

"Games are more fun," Jaen admitted.

Poyomon enthusiastically spat out the bone of the chicken leg – picked clean – and _burp_ed loudly. Then, he yawned and cuddled close to Aimi, closing his eyes and falling asleep almost instantly. Jaen looked warily at the little digimon. He had taken to calling Jaen _Daddy_ and Aimi _Mommy._ He had even done it in front of Aimi's father – the look of rage on his face had been priceless, until Jaen thought that it might turn on him.

He turned to Monodramon and then asked, "So, eating makes you stronger?"

Monodramon nodded. "It gives us the strength to digivolve," he replied. _"That's_ when we get stronger."

"What do digimon typically eat?" Aimi asked.

"Anything," Monodramon replied nonchalantly. "I like meat, personally; but I'll eat plants or fruit if I have to. There's not much of that around here, though… and all the food you guys get, you have to pay for, right?"

Jaen nodded. "Everything costs money here," he confirmed.

"_Money…"_ Monodramon mulled about the word, as if it were the first time he had seriously heard it said. "What is that?"

"Money is proof that you've earned the right to have something, like electricity or food and water," Aimi answered. "You can get it from multiple different places, but it almost always involves some form of work."

"What about people who don't have money?" Monodramon asked, his eyes wide with concern and fear. "Do they not deserve food and stuff?"

Aimi looked worriedly at Jaen. "N-Not necessarily…" Jaen replied, unsure of how to proceed. "It's complicated. Everyone deserves food and water and shelter, but there are some people who can't afford it because they can't get a job, or they've lost everything, or they've been injured or something like that. There are programs set up in all countries to help people in those situations, but…"

"Sometimes those programs don't do enough," Aimi finished. She stroked Poyomon's smooth shape and then murmured, "I suppose you all must be so lost here; you don't know what money is, so you can't buy anything… and no one is certainly giving you any handouts…"

"I'm lucky," Monodramon admitted with a grunt. "If I could do something for my kind, I would. We're strangers here. We're not used to the food or the plants here. We don't know what's safe to eat. Some of us are probably really sick."

"That's unfair," Jaen grunted. "It's not your fault you're here. It's the Demon Lords' fault."

"Humans have every right not to like us," Monodramon admitted. "But they have no right to force us to starve. It's not like we have anywhere else to go… last I saw the Digital World, it was dying – _all_ of it. And there's no way through that portal to get back – it's hidden by those clouds, and the Demon Lords control those."

"So you're stuck," Aimi realized. "Completely."

Monodramon nodded solemnly.

Jaen shot Aimi a look. He felt sick to his stomach from hearing this – there had to be _something_ that they could do. Aimi seemed to understand his message. She told him, "I want to help them too, Jaen; but we could get into a _lot_ of trouble for it. What if we end up in prison again? There's no way we'd be able to get out a second time."

Sighing, he knew that she was right. He couldn't put her at that sort of risk again.

Which was why he would be doing this alone.

* * *

"Are you sure about this?" Haseo asked.

Celena threw him a hard look from her blue eyes. Haseo sighed – he just had to make sure. Celena was like her cousin in many ways, though one wouldn't see these similarities unless they knew the two well. They were both equally just as stubborn and determined, though they focused these feelings into different things.

Haseo knew that they had fought. It was obvious – after school, Celena and Loaño had completely avoided one another. Nikolai and Haseo had only the option to look at one another, shrug, and then leave with the girls. Haseo trusted Nikolai enough – he knew that he would figure out what was wrong and do his best to heal the bond. Haseo would just have to try and do the same on his end.

Celena hadn't wanted to talk about it. Haseo wasn't shocked. Loaño and Celena didn't have little fights. When they fought, it affected them. Considering Loaño's more confrontational nature, Haseo was shocked that it hadn't happened in a while. Their last fight, if he recalled, was in middle school, which wasn't shocking. Loaño had fought with _everyone_ in middle school.

The town was bustling around them. It was late afternoon, with evening fast approaching. People were hurrying to get their errands done before nightfall. Haseo could hardly spot any digimon – the ones he did see kept well away from humans. Some sank into the shadows the moment that they spotted a human. Older digimon helped younger-looking digimon reach safety when humans came near, and the look of hunger and fear on the young digimon's faces made Haseo's heart sick.

_These poor creatures,_ he thought. Looking at Celena, he could tell she was thinking the same thing. She adjusted the backpack on her shoulders and Haseo heard cans clinking inside. They had gathered all the spare food that they could from a nearby supermarket using their allowances. Celena had paid for most of it, thanks to her father – who agreed wholeheartedly with her idea to help the digimon. They had bought food and drink and placed it all inside a nice, secure backpack.

Haseo himself was dragging the bedding on his shoulders. They had managed to find blankets and pillows – but not many, as they were expensive – and then stuffed them into another backpack. To the people around them, they were students coming back from school – they hadn't even taken off their uniforms.

"I don't see that digimon you talked about," Haseo reported, scanning the streets. He could see digimon just as they slipped away into hiding, but none looked like the one that Celena had described. He couldn't see the furry dragon digimon he had seen before, either.

Celena said assuredly, "It's around here. I can feel it."

Haseo looked at her questioningly.

Celena looked flustered, and she said, "I can't explain it, all right? But I can just _feel_ that it's around here. I can feel that it's still hurt, but it's around here, and we're getting closer."

Haseo frowned. "Are you all right?" he asked. He reached his hand over to feel Celena's forehead.

The red-headed girl moved away, shaking her head and insisting, "I'm _fine,_ Haseo – but that digimon's not. I know it all sounds really weird and stuff but it's what I _feel_ and I know its right. We've got to find it and help it."

Haseo pulled away, understanding. He didn't quite understand how Celena knew what she knew, but he trusted her and cared for her enough to help her figure this out.

Celena blinked, and then said suddenly, "This way!"

She pointed down the street. Before Haseo could reply, she had grabbed him by the wrist and was dragging him down the sidewalk. They pushed past people and digimon alike, passing buildings and signs and vehicles until they reached a large, old apartment building. It had been hit by debris from when the digimon came, and was since abandoned. A sign on the door stated that it was slated for reconstruction by someone named Hinahana.

Before Haseo could think of how that name was familiar, Celena had let him go and was walking between the buildings. The apartment building had a nice bit of space between it and the neighboring buildings, along with some space at the back for trash containers and such. They were fenced-off, of course, but when the building was destroyed, some of the building had come off and bent the fence down so that it could be passed over.

"Be careful!" Haseo insisted, following her.

It seemed that the moment they entered the alley, all sound ceased. There was an eerie focused feeling, and Haseo felt his heart skip a beat. Somewhere inside, he had a feeling that he was meant to be here. Whether Celena knew this or not, she kept going, approaching the breach in the fence and regarding it carefully.

Celena shrugged off her backpack and then threw it up. It landed on top of the piece of wall that had come apart from the rest to crush the fencing. It was a good five feet up, though it was sturdily situated against the remaining walls of the building. Celena backed herself up so that her spine was touching the other building, and then took off at a run.

She managed to clamber up the side of the building in one leap. Haseo blushed, admiring her as she pulled herself up and sat atop the crumbled ruin, smiling triumphantly. She offered her hand and said, "Come on; it's easy."

Haseo nodded and copied her, throwing his backpack up to her. She caught it and put it aside. Then she reached down for him. When he jumped, his knees scraped against the brick and he swore, feeling the skin tear – but Celena had him on the piece of building before his knees began bleeding.

"You OK?" she asked, looking at his knees.

"Just a scrape," he replied tightly, his eyes watering. He felt like a little kid, scraping his knee after falling off his bike. Dominic had been there then to put Band-Aids on him even though he needed them more, and Celena was here now, rifling through her bag and then handing him two large Band-Aids from what little cheap medical supplies they could get for the digimon.

"Thanks," he said, removing the covering from the bandages and placing them over his scraped knees. He was called back briefly to the day when Dominic had given him Band-Aids, and he shivered. He had insisted that Dominic use them for himself – he was far more banged up than Haseo had ever been – but Dominic had lamented that Band-Aids wouldn't be able to help his wounds get better.

Shaking his head, Haseo pushed that memory away. That was over, and Dominic was all right. He wasn't coming back – Haseo and Dominic were safe. He pushed himself up and, grabbing his backpack, he followed Celena as she carefully balanced her way across the piece of debris.

It slanted at the end on the other side of the fence, and they were able to get down without too much trouble. Knees hurting, Haseo followed Celena as she walked around the building, towards the back.

"Look at this!" she breathed.

Haseo caught up to her and gasped. It was as if someone had built an entire home back here – for multiple people, no less. There were ruined mattresses lying everywhere, with tattered and stained blankets and pillows scattered over them. Abandoned umbrellas and boxes were littered here and there, stacked in such a way that it formed a tunnel into the remains of the apartment building. From here, Haseo could see that the part of the building that it tunneled into was cut off quickly – it was shelter, but not very effective shelter.

"Are those eggs?" Celena asked.

Haseo leaned forward and could see that Celena was right – there were large eggs inside of that tunnel, as big as Haseo's torso and patterned with many different colors and shapes. They were eggs all right – but what were they for?

"I think we have the right place," Haseo decided.

"And _I_ think it's time for you to leave!" someone snarled.

Haseo and Celena turned, and Haseo said shockedly, _"You!"_

It was the furry dragon. He was thinner than last time, his pelt ragged. His narrowed eyes were burning, and his claws looked sharp, capable of ripping skin. He bared his teeth at Celena and Haseo and then snapped, "Get out!"

"This is the digimon who raided your trash?" Celena whispered, glancing at Haseo. Haseo nodded, and Celena said carefully, "We're here to help!"

"The last humans who said that hurt PrincessPalmon!" the furry digimon snapped, baring his teeth. They were sharp as razors. "And when Lunamon and Renamon tried to help, they hit Lunamon until she couldn't move! Tell me why I should believe that _you_ want to help?"

"Celena, we should go," Haseo whispered urgently. He had a feeling that the digimon was weaker than he was letting on, but he didn't want to test him. There was fear in his eyes, alongside hunger and desperation. Haseo wanted to help – but not if the digimon didn't want to be helped.

Celena slowly and carefully removed her backpack. The dragon looked to charge when she unzipped it and slowly pulled out a can of mandarin oranges. "We brought food," she insisted. "For you. We're here to help."

The digimon's ears twitched, and he sniffed with his large nose. He drew away, his eyes betraying his hunger, and snapped, "How do I know it's not poisoned? You've tried that before!"

Celena opened the can with a little grunt and then picked out a small, slimy little orange slice. Juice dripped off of it, running back into the can. Celena popped it into her mouth, chewed, and then swallowed. Then, she offered the can to the digimon again.

Still, he refused. He nodded to Haseo and snapped, _"Him,_ too."

Haseo rolled his eyes and took the can from Celena. He popped an orange slice into his mouth, shivering at the coldness of it. He didn't like canned fruit, but he supposed if it would sate this stubborn digimon then he would have to stomach it. He licked the juice off his fingers and then swallowed.

"See?" he said. "It's safe."

He held the can out for the digimon. He stepped closer, his claws _click_ing against the cement ground. He sniffed the can experimentally, and then a large tongue darted out and, to Haseo's shock, scooped out the entirety of the contents of the can. He _slurp_ed it into his mouth and swallowed it all in one bite.

"That's good!" he said, his eyes lighting up. "Not as good as the stuff from home, but it's good! Thanks."

"Glad to help," Celena said, smiling. "We have more." Celena set down the backpack, and the digimon's eyes lit up at the sound of more cans in the bag. "How many of you are there?"

"Just us four," the digimon said, licking his chops. "Renamon, Lunamon, PrincessPalmon, and me – I'm Dorumon."

He held out his claw. Celena hesitated, and then bowed. "Pleased to meet you," she said. "I'm Celena Kurosaki."

Haseo saw no aggression in Dorumon's eyes. His hand flashed out, almost without his knowing, and he was shaking hands with the digimon. He felt a strange spark, as if he had just gotten a static shock, and pulled away. Rubbing his hand against his pants, he said, "Haseo Misaki."

"Pleased to meet you," Dorumon replied, flicking his tail. His eyes flashed, and then he said, "The others will be coming back soon… do you want to wait to meet them?"

"Yes, of course," Celena said. "I'd love to see if your friend Lunamon is OK."

Dorumon's ears pricked, and he said, "Hey! She told me about a red-haired human who gave her a box of food. She brought it back for us." Swiping his tongue across his lips, he added, "It was good."

"That was me," Celena confirmed. "She was pretty beat up when I saw her."

"She's recovering," Dorumon promised. He smiled and then said proudly, "We're tough creatures!"

"And you're the digimon who robbed my garbage," Haseo remarked.

Dorumon blinked slowly at him, and then said, "I thought I recognized you… Yeah! It is you!"

"If you were hungry, you could have just asked."

Dorumon stated awkwardly, "You humans don't seem to care much about us. I figured that if I asked I'd be driven away. Sorry."

Haseo sighed. He couldn't be angry at this digimon. "It's all right," he decided. "Just ask next time."

"I will," Dorumon promised.

The digmon walked past them and then pointed at one of the mattresses. "You guys can wait here. They'll be back soon, I think. They're always back a bit before dark. The Deivdramon don't come back here because this is where our home is right now. We've had a few problems, but it's mostly humans who bother us. No one lives here anymore so we're safe."

"Until they start rebuilding this place," Celena commented.

Dorumon didn't reply to that. He poked one of the mattresses with his claws, and then sat down. Celena and Haseo followed, taking their bags with them. When they sat down, they found the mattresses firm, but comfortable. At least, they were comfortable enough to wait on.

"Got any more of that food?" Dorumon asked.

Celena nodded, and then pulled out another can. She tossed it to Dorumon, who caught it awkwardly in his claws. He popped open the top and began lapping at the contents. This time, it seemed like he was going slower.

Haseo felt his stomach twist. It was as if he could feel the digimon's hunger as his own. _Poor guy,_ he thought. _We have to help them, somehow…_

It struck him then – Loaño was the type of person who would help someone – anyone – who was in need like this. If they were being bullied, she would fight the bullies. If they were hungry, she would get food for them. If they needed money, her pocket change went out to them. It was too strange of a breach of character for it to be natural.

So why did she not want to help Celena?

_Something is going on,_ he realized. _Knowing her, it's either bad… or worse. And Nikolai knows what it is._

Suddenly, Celena's frustrations made sense. Haseo and Celena had known Loaño for far longer than their foreign pianist did – why was he privy to these details? They had reasoned it was because they loved each other – it was obvious to everyone else but them – but now Haseo had a feeling that something – or someone – else was involved. Loaño wouldn't get into a fight with Celena because of Nikolai, or even Kidd… She didn't have any other close friends, and Loaño wasn't as petty as other girls… unless it concerned the people she categorized as "jocks".

So what was it that was making Loaño Ishida act so strange?

Looking at Dorumon, Haseo had a sinking feeling that it had something to do with digimon.

With an even deeper sinking feeling, he felt that it would also lead to nowhere good.


End file.
